Catholic Church
Who is a Christian? – The Catholic Thing
The Department of Defense recently made waves over a decision to remove Mormons from the category of “Christian,” to distinguish more clearly among the chaplains and the servicemen as to who might best minister to them in matters of faith and…
‘Ars Poetica’ – The Catholic Thing
The proverbial Martian visiting America in this 250th year (a whole quarter millennium) of our existence would be struck by many things. But probably by nothing more obvious than the large gap between what, on the one hand, we daily say and do –…
Mozart, Freemasonry, and the Synodal Way
A recent, brief exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City highlighted the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. J.P. Morgan, the famous financier, built his library on Madison Avenue in the 19th century as a place to house,…
Defeating Modernism – The Catholic Thing
Among the most distressing things about the Catholic Church is her (really, OUR) failure to take advantage of the many opportunities that the “modern world” accidentally offers us. We have made ourselves smaller and more inconsequential by…
Two Reflections on the Feast of the Sacred Heart
Human Hearts and the Sacred Heart Matthew D. Walz What is the “heart”? The Catechism proves helpful here. In a section on the unity of man, the Church teaches that man is “at once corporeal and spiritual” and that “man, whole and entire, is. .…
The Consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart
The bishops of the United States are gathered in Orlando, Florida this week for the USCCB’s annual June meeting. The conference’s June meetings are generally more low-key than the November plenaries in Baltimore. That said, this week the…
‘Madame Bovary’ and Us – The Catholic Thing
When the classic French novel Madame Bovary first appeared in 1856, public prosecutors tarred the serial novel as obscene – outrage aux bonnes mœurs et à la religion (“an outrage to public morality and religion”) – given author Gustave…
Beauty in the Power of the Holders
What do you suppose was the favorite site in Rome for the majority of a group of twenty-six college-bound students visiting for the first time? St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums? The Colosseum and the Forum? The Trevi Fountain and the…
The World as the Womb of Divine Love
Some people wonder: Why stick around in this life if the next life is so great? In fact, why has God sent us into this world at all if His ultimate goal for us is union with Him? Why not just get us there? Why send us here, risking the…
Sheen Beatification Calls Catholics Back to the Eucharist
Catholics around the world are commemorating Corpus Christi today, a feast day celebrating the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. But Corpus Christi is especially significant for American Catholics this year. The Catholic Church has seen…