The Narthex
The Dawson Centre at Ten
Promoting the Catholic intellectual tradition
By David Daintree | November 20th 2023 4:47 PMIt all started in mid-2013 when the archbishop-elect of Hobart, Julian Porteous, asked me if I would help him “raise the profile of the Catholic intellectual tradition” in his new diocese. The cynic might say that raising the profile of something that was below the radar of public awareness wasn’t…
READ FULL BLOG POSTStamps and Civics
Once upon a time, stamps were miniature civics lessons, especially for collectors
By John M. Grondelski | October 25th 2023 3:00 PMLots of people bemoan the demise of civics. They argue that recovering civics might be a first step in recovering civility, a friendlier if not shared political discourse versus our contemporary polarization. There have even been government efforts -- state and federal -- to introduce mandatory civics education. Some critics…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #8
Must I Pay?... All Talk... Deliberate 'Errors'... Vague Values... more
By John M. Grondelski | September 18th 2023 12:42 PMI’ve explained in the past that I keep a subscription to The New York Times primarily because it is a source par excellence for the insane musings of the Left. But even I could not believe the number of such inanities the Old Gray Lady managed to publish in just…
READ FULL BLOG POSTColleges and AI Writing
If a student can’t write his admissions essay, how much of his college work will be machine-made?
By John M. Grondelski | September 5th 2023 2:06 PMIt’s the beginning of September, which means schools have either already started or will soon start new academic years. Most colleges and universities are back in session. So, like most Labor Day weekends with absolutely no immediately biting crises on the news cycle, editors filled space with “school stories.” The…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Name Game
Ideologues call living in accord with Catholic teaching 'dysfunctional'
By John M. Grondelski | August 23rd 2023 7:20 PMI recently applauded Worcester Bishop Robert McManus’s newly promulgated policy requiring Catholic schools in the diocese to use a child’s legal name, not a gender-ideology driven substitute, when addressing a child (and not just in official documents). The policy even goes further in establishing one’s given name identity: if, after…
READ FULL BLOG POSTProtecting the Integrity of Names in Worcester
Man is not self-made but a gift from God through parents who co-create under Him
By John M. Grondelski | August 21st 2023 11:37 AMBishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, has mandated that Catholic schools in his diocese use a child’s legal name, not substitutes a student, driven by gender ideology, might want. Congratulations to him for providing episcopal leadership! [To see McManus's policy, click here.] But, some may ask, doesn’t that harm…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTime, Weekends, & Childhood
The protective wall of childhood innocence is being breached
By John M. Grondelski | June 14th 2023 1:16 PMThe Psalmist sings of praise and wisdom from an unexpected source: “out of the mouth of children and of babes” (8:2). Occasionally one can find another source: in advertisements. An ad seen this morning in the Washington Metro was headlined “Childhood Passes Faster Than a Weekend.” Don’t it? Perhaps I’m…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWhere Are the June Weddings?
Church teaching on marriage is attractive, but it requires talking about it. We're not
By John M. Grondelski | June 7th 2023 11:58 AMOnce upon a time, not too long ago, June used to be associated with marriage. People spoke of “June weddings.” But while Stevie Wonder might have just been calling to say “I love you,” there was something prescient in his lyric about “no wedding Saturday within the month of June.”…
READ FULL BLOG POST'Social Justice,' 'Solidarity,' or Just Slogans?
Woke 'tolerance' goes only one way & selfish individualism ruins ritual
By John M. Grondelski | June 1st 2023 2:19 PMMy eldest son, John Zygmunt, graduated college last month with a double major. I’m proud of him and happily joined his commencement exercises at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia. GMU, one of the largest public universities in the Commonwealth, proudly boasted that this year’s 11,000 undergrad and grad…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWar with the Left
Bigots, bullies, liars & haters are all the same regardless of which 'side' they're on
By David Daintree | May 24th 2023 11:31 AMWords from Ecclesiastes -- “Be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (xii.12) -- must occasionally spring to the mind of those who inflict “opinion pieces” upon innocent readers! But we are engaged in a mostly cold war against those who…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Church's Sexual Ethics Should Be INTO Diapers
A better expression of Christian sexual ethics starts with teaching them unapologetically
By John M. Grondelski | May 4th 2023 11:37 AMAmong the ambiguities of his Disney appearance, Pope Francis remarked that the Church’s “catechesis on sex is still in diapers.” Various commentators have voiced disappointment or even outrage over that phrase. I take it as a compliment. The Church’s sexual ethics is still in -- more accurately, into -- diapers.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWork, Workers & Wonder
Secular man won’t discuss -- but desperately needs -- a theology of work
By James Hanink | November 29th 2022 8:37 PMUnder the direction of the United Auto Workers, 48,000 “academic workers,” chiefly researchers and graduate students, at the University of California are on strike—the largest such job action in history. It even includes the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose task is to “mind” and “develop” the country’s nuclear arsenal. The…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTwo Rules of Thumb to Avoid Sin
Wise words from a grade-school retreat master are worth passing forward
By James Thunder | November 21st 2022 1:11 PMBefore my class of one hundred graduated from grade school -- from Mary, Seat of Wisdom School in Park Ridge, Illinois, in 1964 -- we had a Day of Recollection at our church conducted by one of the priests who belonged to the Mission Band of the Archdiocese of Chicago.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTeaching Latin to High School Students
Proficiency and knowledge of the Faith can come by way of the Church's treasures
By James Thunder | October 26th 2022 4:40 PMPreviously I addressed teaching Latin to Catholic grade school students. Now I'll address teaching Latin to high school students who are Catholic. As previously described, I used the Bible, Latin hymns, Latin prayers, and the Latin Mass to help teach Latin to Catholic grade-schoolers. But what about Catholic high school…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLeading Grade-Schoolers to Latin
After singing, reading & hearing familiar stories in Latin, students were eager for more
By James Thunder | October 22nd 2022 8:28 PMI taught Latin to Catholic grade school students from 2010 through 2018. Admittedly, the course was not demanding since we met for only 40 minutes once weekly (on Saturday mornings). But from the outset I never intended to concentrate, as is typical of Latin instruction, on grammar or, shall I…
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