A sub-category of News.
Among the six articles a week my wife Debra and I publish at Word and Song (our attempt to bring, without any politics at all, good and true and beautiful things back into the public square), is our Hymn of the Week, every Tuesday. That sends me to one or another of the many hymnals…
Many years ago, I decided to attend daily Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Each morning on my way to Mass, I would drive past a house that flew the flag representing pride in all the different sexual identities that fell under the LGBTQ (this was…
The fiery tongues of the Holy Ghost have fallen. The ancient Ember Days are behind us. We lingered in the mystery during the octave for the sake of the transformation of our lives in the Holy Spirit. The 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, feels like the opening of a new liturgical season, Tempus per annum… Time…
Above: Catholic vice president JD Vance. Photo credit. As all the world knows, on May 18, 2025, Pope Leo XIV was inaugurated. Although not nearly as impressive or expressive as the coronations of once – and we pray – future popes, it was certainly not unimpressive in its way. As foreign leaders and representatives of…
How to account for the Good News of Jesus Christ? The short answer is the Holy Ghost, who, in the words of the poet Hopkins, “with warm breast and with ah! bright wings,” hovers about a broken world, and in whose fiery descent deigns to give birth to men and women annealed in Christ through…
June used to be associated with weddings. Marriage is suffering its share of problems. People find all sorts of ersatz substitutes for it; and, if they marry at all, it’s usually later than it’s ever been. For Catholics, marriage is a sacrament. That means it is more than a civil ceremony, more than “a license…
I discovered the writings of Mary Claire Kendall after first reading a revealing article titled “Hemingway’s Catholic Heart”[1] in the prestigious magazine Saint Austin Review, edited by Joseph Pearce. Well-documented and filled with significant biographical details, the article confirmed for me the influence of the Catholic faith on Hemingway’s life and work. Although always accompanied…
This June, if you’ve been driving along Interstate 80 or spending time in Lincoln or Omaha, you may have noticed something new—a series of billboards featuring the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It’s part of a listener-led effort made up of Spirit Catholic Radio listeners, created to share a message of love, hope, and faith with…
Opus Dei critics are obsessed with corporal mortification, the practice whereby Catholics embrace sufferings large and small for the sake of spiritual advance. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Leave that tiny morsel on the plate no matter how much you love it. Pause for 30 seconds before digging into that plate of steak…
On a cold February morning in Rome, I stood before a mirror in a rented room, adjusting a black lace chapel veil, preparing for Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The Mass was to celebrate my dear son, Sewell Setzer III, my 14-year-old son, who had taken his own life in our home in Orlando, Florida,…
