Tag: Catholicism

Jefferson and the 4th of July

In the early days of July 1826, Thomas Jefferson “marshalled his will toward the realization of one last mission: He wanted to survive until the Fourth of July.” So writes Jon Meacham in his marvelous biography Thomas Jefferson: The Art of…

Human Dignity and America’s 250th

Like many Americans, I’ve been refreshing my knowledge of the American Revolution in anticipation of July 4 this year. And, at the same time, I’m finding myself comparing the Founders’ notions of human dignity with the way the term is frequently…

Is the Church of England in a Death Spiral?

The Anglo-American poet, T.S. Eliot (born in St. Louis), wrote “The Hollow Men” in 1925. The poem concludes with this haunting quatrain: This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang…

Is the Church of England in a Death Spiral?

The Anglo-American poet, T.S. Eliot (born in St. Louis), wrote “The Hollow Men” in 1925. The poem concludes with this haunting quatrain: This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang…

Worth & Worship – The Catholic Thing

What is a thing worth? In economics, it’s relative. Prices fluctuate. Markets rise and fall. A thing is worth what someone’s willing to pay for it. Back in the 1980s, my LPs were worth a lot. With the arrival of CDs, they were worth almost…

What Does Love Look Like?

It’s a commonplace observation that most people think more readily in pictures than in abstract concepts, and that stories move and transform us in ways that logical arguments often don’t.  God, who of course knows this, therefore has revealed…

A Perfect Model of Fatherhood

Excerpted from Address of John Paul II to the members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, June 4, 1999 The theme of fatherhood, which you have chosen for this plenary meeting, refers to the third year of preparation for the Great Jubilee,…

Whatever Happened to Natural Law?

There are many crises in the Catholic Church today, but one of the most serious is the dismal state of moral theology.  That crisis has its roots in the confusion and intellectual ferment that ensued in the aftermath of Vatican II.  Progressive…