The Narthex

Dressing to the Zeroes Once upon a time, being “dressed to the nines” meant being dressed to perfection, with distinction. It was expected in public, including many places today’s Americans would no longer expect. When I went to college in the late 1970s, my primary way home was by airplane:…

The Opening Prayer (Collect) for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) implores, “O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you.” Let us examine…

Much of Pope Francis’s February 10 letter to the Catholic bishops in the United States centered on its subject: immigration. I focused on that in my first take, which addressed how to define “dignity,” what were the letter’s potential long-term implications, and how ordo amoris could be understood in ways…

Marty is a great film, both for National Marriage Week (February 7-14) and for Valentine’s Day weekend. Even though it is 71 years old, it’s telling to see what’s changed -- and what hasn’t -- since 1954. (And, I'll admit, there's something about black-and-white films.) Marty (played by Ernest Borgnine) is…

The Senate’s confirmation of Robert Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) concludes a particularly contentious nomination. He will be the Secretary of HHS, whether one likes it or not. So, I’d like to do something somewhat out-of-character in today’s Washington: call a truce. Perhaps we Catholics…

Pohutsky’s Pregnancy Problem Laurie Pohutsky is a “bisexual” Michigan Democratic State Representative from northern Wayne County (the county where Detroit sits). You’d probably never hear about a member of the Wolverine State’s legislature -- even the chair of the “Progressive Women’s Caucus" -- except for the fact that Pohutsky took…

I recently criticized in vitro fertilization (IVF) as being, despite appearances, unloving. It raises questions of spousal exclusivity when other peoples’ gametes are used. It raises questions of alienation from our bodies and our child’s, who subtly shifts from a gift to be welcomed to a commodity to be ordered.…

Many people, including Catholics, can’t see the problems with in vitro fertilization (IVF). They contend it’s “pro-life” and “gives people what they want, a baby.” So why does the Catholic Church oppose IVF? Because life and love can’t be separated, which is why Karol Wojtyla -- the future John Paul…

Romanian Rain on Francis’s Common Easter Parade Pope Francis’s idea of launching a “common Easter” hit a road block when the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania voiced objections. His primary objection was exactly the condition Vatican II set 61 years ago in the long-dormant appendix to Sacronsanctum Concilium that Francis wants…

As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you (Isaiah 62:5). The Church reads this passage twice -- every year at the Christmas Vigil Mass and early in Ordinary Time of Year…

Welcome to today’s episode of “As the Holydays Turn.” When last we tuned in, the Catholic bishops of the United States were in a quandary. In 2024, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 fell on a Sunday. According to the norms of the liturgical calendar, when a…

Recently Pope Francis repeated an idea he has been floating for some time: setting a common date for Easter. Catholics and Eastern Orthodox mark Easter on different dates because the Orthodox use a different calendar (the Julian, which is 13 days out-of-sync from the sun) and formula to fix Easter.…

Even the most cursory social media survey in the past 24 hours suggests Vice President J.D. Vance’s comment about the money that flows through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for “immigrant” services touched a nerve among the bishops, who managed to react in the middle of a…

If you own a home, how many guests do you have to welcome? Most normal people would say, “As many or as few a I want. There is no obligation to have guests.” If you asked those people, “And how many of those guests should be allowed to move in…

Yesterday Washington Episcopal “Bishop” Mariann Edgar Budde’s "lectored" a captive Donald Trump and J.D. Vance during her National Cathedral sermon ("lectored" is my neologism: "lecture" plus "hector"). Budde pressed the President and Vice President to show “mercy” to “LGBT” children and immigrants who “pick our crops and clean our buildings.”…