Columns
Respecting Boundaries, Papal and Political
The feud between Pope Leo and President Trump over U.S. immigration policy and military action in Iran raises important questions about the propriety of observing boundaries and not crossing certain lines. Little needs to be said about the…
The Moon, the Crucifixion, and the Feast
The new month brings a trifecta on my ecclesiastical calendar: a full moon, First Friday, and the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. My calendar’s tracking of astronomical events is a holdover from long ago, when the Church had its own astrology.…
A Light Shines in the Darkness
God made man in His own image and likeness. God Himself, then, is the primary reference point for man’s self-understanding. Accordingly, when man loses sight of God, he loses sight of his own humanity. This is the story of our secular age writ…
You Might Get Assassinated – The Catholic Thing
Recently, while I was imparting that rarest of elusive concepts, a civics education, to a group of Fourth and Fifth Graders, I presented the “Preamble” to the Constitution of the United States. We listed, on that dying breed of communicative…
Civic Education in Person – The Catholic Thing
Civics education is all the rage at the moment. And for good reason. In a recent article in Commentary, (“A Republic, If You Can Teach It”), Robert Pondiscio reports the grim news that: “Scores on the long-running National Assessment of…
The Pope, the Press, and the Present
Pope Leo travelled to four African countries this month, which included not only the usual calls for peace, justice, and brotherhood, but several touching and poignant moments with local communities. Let’s hope that the presence of this…
A Gated Community
Today is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It puts before us one of the most familiar and beautiful descriptions of God. The prayers at Mass speak of Him as the “brave” and “kind” shepherd. For this reason, today is also World Day of…
The Fact That Corners You
There are things I did during my wife’s final illness that, had you asked me beforehand, I would have said I could never do. Not would not, could not. The distinction matters. When the time came, I did them. Not heroically – there was nothing…
A Note on ‘Roma Aeterna’
Rome, if not quite the “Eternal City,” is nearly 2,800 years old and counting. I first encountered it in the 1970s, visiting my wife’s uncle, a priest who served in the Congregation (now the Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith. What I…
A Cancelled Catholic Philosopher in a Turbulent Age
“Our foreign-born citizens must permit us to say that they have been imprudent and have committed some serious mistakes,” so writes an esteemed Catholic social philosopher about the immigration question. “It is wrong to claim as a natural right…