I’ve spent most of the afternoon on social media, looking over reports about the protest that turned into a break-in at the US Capitol. Government officials had to be evacuated. One young woman was shot in the neck, and appeared to be in very bad condition. There is an enormous amount of speculation going on…
The Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany is traditionally observed on the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6th. On that day, the Church recalls Jesus Christ’s epiphany, or manifestation, to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi. God had been preparing the human race for this event ever since Adam’s fall from grace. The Israelites had their…
When my alarm went off at 3:15 on a Saturday morning, I briefly questioned my own sanity. I had promised my seven youngest children, ages 14 years to 7 months, that I would bring them to a pre-dawn Rorate Caeli Mass – a sung Latin Mass that takes place during Advent and honors Our Lady. …
I’ve written before about the rather significant indications that Pope Francis is a religious indifferentist, and why that’s a bad thing. Regular readers will require no additional explanation. In fact, most of us are absolutely sick to death of talking about him. He’s bad, we know it, and there’s not much we can do about…
Background: A few years ago, a friend graciously asked me for permission to nominate me for a one-year visiting professorship at a Catholic College which was beginning a study of bias (as the focus for that professor’s teaching and research). I thanked my colleague but declined the nomination. I then wrote to the President of…
An acquaintance of mine was once distraught upon learning that I celebrated Easter. From his reactions, it followed that he saw proclaiming the truth of Christianity as inseparable from a colonialist mindset and an implicit Western supremacism disparaging other religions and cultures. In other words, he considered my public affirmation that Jesus Christ has truly…
Much has been said of a United States Catholic Bishop committee releasing a guide titled Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church. The guide has received cautious praise from Catholics, for it tackles many of the problems with post-Vatican II hymns (finally, we can at least agree that heresy in a hymn is indeed…
In Argentina, feral women — some of them naked and likely intoxicated — are dancing in the streets in celebration of their newly legislated “right” to murder their own children: The crowd of a few thousand burst into raucous cheers and tear-filled hugs as Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who presided over the debate,…
It’s really a remarkable thing. This president and this White House, through all the chaos and bluster that seem to constantly surround both, have demonstrated a closeness to the Catholics of this nation that is really unprecedented. From President Trump being the first to make a personal appearance at the March for Life, to the…
There is a classic scene in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life where George Bailey tells his guardian angel, Clarence, “I wish I’d never been born.” That is a statement which some others have likely uttered at some point in 2020. George is at the end of his rope; he has watched friends outpace him…
“Relativism, that terribly effective bleach, has wiped out everything in its path.” –Robert Cardinal Sarah, The Day is Now Far Spent Precis: The foundations of the good political order are grounded upon, and are faithful to, virtues discovered by right reason and practiced by diligent statecraft. Such virtues are betrayed at grave peril; first…
