Commentary
Your sexual pathology doesn’t make you special
No matter what temptations assail us, it is part of the Christian vocation to face up to the truth about ourselves, and then seek conversion and healing. When we categorize ourselves in ways that justify our disordered inclinations, we are refusing the call to conversion. A Church that condoned this would not be a truly compassionate spiritual physician, but a field hospital staffed by quacks with a reputation for filling out ample prescriptions, no questions asked.
Don’t give Trump a pass on IVF
That Trump has promised to broaden access to IVF should be no surprise; he made that promise during his campaign. What IS a surprise is that some prominent pro-lifers have urged us not to complain.
Terrence Malick and the Knights of Columbus: Voyage of Time (2016)
The Criteria crew continues its series on the films of Terrence Malick, jumping ahead to the experimental documentary Voyage of Time, which was co-produced by the Knights of Columbus! Voyage of Time portrays the creation and development of the cosmos, the Earth, and the living creatures on it from the beginning of the universe to its end. The main point of the film is simply to evoke wonder at creation with its gorgeous photography, sound design and music.
Sicilian Pilgrimage with Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea
Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea discuss the origins of pilgrimage as a Christian spiritual practice, and the upcoming pilgrimage they are leading in Sicily!
The Apostle of a Happy Death
Let’s return to the reasonable natural-law ethics of a Greek pagan. Invoke the authentic Oath of Hippocrates.
Another sloppy petition in Evening Prayer
In the Eternal Rest prayer we are attempting to tie in one or more souls, the fate of which we do not know, with what we do know about the souls of the faithful departed; we are entreating God’s mercy and affirrming what we know about that mercy at the same time.
Vice President Vance deftly de-escalates conflict with Pope Francis
Call it Vanceism. Or the Vance Doctrine. A more specific subset of the populist nationalism—and a more Catholic one. Vanceism is the particular strain of Trumpism that Catholics should be rooting for.
Soul Garden: A Catholic Mother’s Collective
Catholic Culture's Book review for Soul Garden: a Catholic Mother's Collective edited by Hope Schneir and Sia Hoyt, printed by Ignatius Press.
A pivotal moment—for both State and Church
When nations seek to be dominant throughout the whole world, one of two things seems to be the case: Either they are looking for domestic wealth and power, in which case their distant “possessions” suffer exploitation, or they are looking for sources of cheaper production, in which case their own people suffer through the outsourcing of work. In the second case, it is only a slight exaggeration to observe that the rich become jet-setting tycoons and the poor become…opioid addicts.
A just man in an unjust war
He lost both those battles, was deposed, and lived in exile, in poverty, while the bloodshed continued. But in the process, by his fidelity, he won a more precious crown.
When diocesan abuse policies violate canon law
So the publication of lists of priests who have been “credibly accused” is an injustice, a breach of canon law, an offense against the healthy Anglo-American legal assumption that someone is innocent until proven guilty, and a violation of Vatican guidelines. Yet many American dioceses have published such lists.
100 tough questions for Catholics: Read responsibly!
Sadly, even when these questions are asked of fellow Catholics, the answers given may be either inadequate or false. And when that is the case, the result will be a declining faith and commitment on the part of the questioner. By selecting a broad range of questions with this precise problem in mind, Bonagura provides intelligent answers that impart the understanding necessary to get on the right track…and keep going deeper into the Faith.
5.5 St. Gregory of Narek: Doctor of Mercy
St. Gregory of Narek (c. 945-1003), was an Armenian saint - a monk, scholar, poet, and hymn writer. Praised as a saint by Pope St. John Paul II, who called by him the “great Marian doctor of the Armenian Church,” St. Gregory of Narek was officially proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis in 2015–one of the most recent additions to the list of the Doctors of the Church.
All about Lent and Holy Week: Book Review
Catholic Culture Book Review of All About Lent and Holy Week: Sharing the Seasons of Repentance and Salvation with Children by Katherine Bogner and illustrated by Shari Van Vranken.
The Pedagogy of Forgiveness
The rigors of Christian love purify our motivations for forgiveness. Justice gives mercy its meaning. So we must love justice and call evil by its name.
My thoughts as Pope Francis nears his death—or doesn’t
If our papa needs help, our goal must be to help him. Not out of any partisanship, any “party spirit,” this faction vs. that faction. But out of “the reality of my baptismal promises.”
Speculating about the Pope’s health
After a few days of those anodyne Vatican bulletins, reports in the mainstream media began to say that the Pope’s condition was worsening. Actually I think it would be more accurate to say that after his first two or three days in the hospital, the Pope’s condition was pretty much the same, but the few details leaking out of the Gemelli complex were revealing that his illness had been, from the outset, more serious than the Vatican wanted to admit.
Our politics must arise from a counter-cultural Christianity
These observations are incontestable. Without them, the only possibility is moral and political chaos. Therefore, the first step is to get people to acknowledge that an objective standard of human behavior is essential to human flourishing, and that without advertence to such a standard there is no possibility for controlling the misguided excesses which so frequently undermine the common good.
191—How the Church Invented Musical Notation—Christopher Page
The Christian West and Its Singers: The First Thousand Years, by the great English musicologist Christopher Page, covers the development of Christian liturgical music from its origins as an elaboration of the role of the lector to its flourishing in the monastic and cathedral singing schools of France, as Roman chant was spread across Europe. One of the most important developments was the gradual development of a system of notation in the late first millennium.
The ‘ordo amoris’ and the bottom line
St. John Henry Newman explained the concept with his characteristic elegance, where he describes the love of family and friends— of those in the first concentric circle, if you will— “as the source of more extended Christian love.”
St. John Henry Newman—The Oxford Sermons | 2. The Influence of Natural and Revealed Religion Respectively
"The philosopher aspires towards a divine principle; the Christian, towards a Divine Agent."
Free Liturgical Year Volume 3 Released: LENT
Our liturgical year ebooks include all the liturgical day information for each season just as it appears on CatholicCulture.org. These offer a rich set of resources for families to use in living the liturgical year in the domestic church. Resources include biographies of the saints to match each feast day, histories of the various celebrations and devotions, descriptions of customs from around the world, prayers, activities and recipes.
When Catholics praise single parenthood
Prior to the sexual revolution, there was always a stigma on having a child out of wedlock and on the behavior that leads to it. Every child is a gift from God, but parents who deprive their child of a loving family do not deserve the congratulations due to spouses who follow God’s ordinance to be fruitful and multiply in honorable wedlock. If we want fewer abortions and fewer suffering children, we will need to return to the social guardrails of old, including a healthy social pressure.
Recommended aids to improve your prayer life in Lent
Periodically I try to recommend a few worthwhile books for devotional use during Lent, concentrating on what might have been newly released by trusted Catholic publishers.
The Marx Brothers w/ James Matthew Wilson
Poet and philosopher James Matthew Wilson joins the podcast to discuss two films by the Marx Brothers (Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera). Wilson also reads one of his poems featuring allusions to the Marx Brothers, and talks about the letters written between Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot.
The Crown of Human Perfection
God did not allow sin to obliterate His handiwork. We remain images of God, even in our fallen state.
Happy Ordo Amoris Day
Happy Valentine's Day! Or Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day! Or, this year, let's just declare it Ordo Amoris Day. Here's why.
A Valentine’s-Day challenge to young single Catholic men
When I heard today’s Gospel reading, because it was Valentine’s Day, I thought of the young men who, it seems, need a miracle to loosen their tongues so that they can pop the question.
The Pope’s disastrous letter on immigration
In his letter Pope Francis is on very firm ground when he states the Church’s unshakable commitment to human dignity. No one— in the Catholic Church or in the Trump administration— should have objected to that principle. But the Pope’s distorted application of the principle now makes it easier to dismiss even that sound first principle.
5.4 St. Gregory of Narek: Patron Saint of Armenia
In the first episode on St. Gregory of Narek (c. 945-1003), Dr. Papandrea introduces one of the newest additions to the list of Doctors of the Church. Gregory was an Armenian monk, scholar, poet, and saint, who was praised by Pope St. John Paul II.
Trump’s antics and the highest human value
Obviously it is better to accept what has been wrought through bad political leadership in the past and proceed now to implement a solidly prudential immigration policy with adequate controls. That’s not a simple task, but it is clearly simpler—and far less harmful to those involved—than the mass deportation of millions of desperate immigrants who have already arrived.
Best Practices of the Church
Only Mary is without sin. We are not. His Holiness Pope Peter denied Jesus three times. His Excellency Archbishop Matthew the Evangelist was among the hated tax collectors. His Eminence Judas Cardinal Iscariot betrayed Jesus. The sins of the twelve would keep parish gossips busy.
A remarkable resurgence of Catholic education and formation
Granted that these superior institutions educate only a very small minority of those who go to ostensibly “Catholic” colleges or seek education “in the Jesuit tradition” (a sobriquet increasingly trotted out to mask a lack of Catholicity), they are an important sign of vitality in American Catholicism. But what I find most interesting at this moment is the extension of this authentically Catholic intelligence into vocational training on the one hand, and serious scientific endeavor on the other.
Book Review: Saints Around the World
Honest Review of Meg Kilmer-Hunter's book Saints Around the World and the 5 volume collection Saints Around the World for Little Ones. Highly recommended for children ages 6-12.
St. John Henry Newman—The Oxford Sermons | 1. The Philosophical Temper, First Enjoined by the Gospels
"The philosopher might speculate, but the theologian must submit to learn."
WHO should pay to help migrants?
The focus of the current debate is on what our federal government should do. A debate on what we should do, through our own private efforts, would be a much healthier discussion.
The Conundrum of Parish Involvement
Pastors rightfully seek ways to involve the lay faithful in as many aspects of parish life as possible. It’s a simple calculus: the more the faithful engage in various parish events, the more they come to love their parish. They will then support more events, make the parish seem alive and attractive to others, and, most importantly, their efforts will push them to grow deeper in their own faith.
Should Biden be excommunicated for joining the Masons?
So where does that leave Joe Biden, who has continued to profess his Catholic faith, attend Mass, and receive Communion regularly? He is forbidden to receive Communion. But then he was already forbidden to receive Communion!
190—Fulton Sheen, Convert Maker—Cheryl C.D. Hughes
A new biography of Ven. Fulton Sheen gives special attention to his high-profile converts, but reveals many other interesting facets of his life as well. Author Cheryl Hughes joins to discuss Sheen’s at times shockingly direct evangelization methods, his outstanding television presence, his lifelong struggle with vanity and ambition, and the mistreatment he suffered from his rival, Cardinal Spellman.
Want more commentary? Visit the Archives.
