Our parish has sixty-two programs, projects, and ministries. I counted them. Have you miscarried? There’s a project for that. Do you struggle with pornography? A parish ministry can help you. Don’t have enough to eat? We have a program to …
Why Are We Making Our Children the Victims of Bad Religious Art?
Walking out of church this week, I noticed a pile of free children’s pamphlets/Mass supplements at the door. I was so annoyed by this smushy and blobby cover that I picked it up to see if the inside was just …
What if We Were All Cradle Catholics, Mr. Ivereigh?
For some time now, the comment has been coming from the direction of Pope Francis’s supporters and defenders that papal critics often are converts. For some reason, that seems for them to be a defect. Austen Ivereigh, among others, has …
“Who Told You That Your Worth is Less than what God Tells You it is?”
Editor’s note: we received the following letter from “Alice”, a woman who was born in Asia and adopted by an American couple at seven months of age. She grew up Catholic. Then, several months before she was to graduate high school, her …
In Memoriam: Maria Klump
Editor’s note: this poem was submitted to us by Jeffrey Klump, a 1P5 reader whose wife Maria passed away in April, 2016 from complications arising from multiple myeloma cancer. Today would have been her 52nd birthday. Please, in your kindness, offer …
The Merit of The Prayers and Tears of St. Monica – Have We Forgotten?
In this world that has accepted that EVERYONE goes to Heaven, that there is no right or wrong, and all actions are fine as long as they don’t “hurt” anyone, what about St. Monica? Do we believe she is a …
I Am Forcing Myself to Watch a Muslim Killer at Work: A (Graphic) Poem
I am forcing myself to watch a Muslim killer at work, A hooded Muslim slashing another Muslim’s throat. He is using a dull knife. I force myself to watch the video over and over. It is the least I can …
On Pragmatic Theologians
O practiced hand of theory, ever taking paths that lead to “useful,” even making knowledge of divine like kit instructions turning points of dogma into functions: Away! and take your scheming sermons with you. I will not hear conclusions that …
What is Liberty?
If man is haphazardly here, an accident in the night of the universe’s thoughtless dream, I suppose liberty is being unfettered, choosing one’s own way, determining one’s own meaning, taking advantage of the time, carpe diem. So little time, so …
Sealed With Blood: A Letter From a Father to His Beloved Son
Editor’s note: the following is a work of speculative fiction. It was originally published in the April, 2002 issue of New Oxford Review. It has been reprinted with permission. Cite de Dio The Feast of The Holy Innocents, A.D. 2032 …
