The Narthex

I arise each morning, stumble to the sink, wash my face, and then stare in horror at the sagging, wrinkled jowls in the mirror. What happened to your youth, old boy? Yet, I don’t feel old; I can still huff and puff up big hills. That face in the mirror…

Continuing our discussion of recognizing lay holiness, let us look at philanthropists. We could discuss the donors of large sums -- $10 million, $100 million -- to causes consistent with Catholic social teaching, including Catholic schools, hospitals, and more. Many such donors take advantage of “naming rights” -- for buildings,…

I stood with 50 other engineers the morning of September 11, 2001, staring at a widescreen TV. In shocked disbelief, we gawked at another Boeing 767 passenger plane colliding into the second WTC tower, and finally, both towers cascading into a smoky heap. I shook my head, thinking this will…

This has been a long and tumultuous year for the church-going faithful of California, particularly in San Francisco, where church doors have been shut, locked, and all but barricaded. Worshiping on devices, Bay Area Catholics endured months of separation from the true presence of our Lord. Easter and Christmas, the…

Would you say that any of the following Catholics, and their spouses, were holy? Writers The married couple Frank Sheed (1897-1982) and Maisie Ward (1889-1975) were writers and founders of a great Catholic publishing house, Sheed & Ward, in 1926. They had a son and a daughter. Other prominent lay…

Twenty years of clerical sex abuse scandals have rocked the Church. I heard that in 2002, after the Boston Globe reports, some clergy took to wearing civilian clothes in public to avoid heckling. A part of me was thankful that I had not become a brother or religious priest at…

How does it look when men and women strive for holiness at work? Let's take examples from various occupations: Entertainers/TV-Film Personalities Among prominent Catholic entertainers is convert Alec Guinness (1914-2000). (See Guinness’s first of three autobiographies, Blessings in Disguise, from 1986.) See also his portrayal as G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown…

We continue to consider how holiness has been manifested in lay people of various occupations. Hospitality & Retail Workers At least two members of religious orders transformed the task of “doorkeeper” -- porter or meet-and-greeter -- to a holy life. One is Br. André Bessette, C.S.C. (1845-1937, canonized 2010), about…

First and foremost among holy tradesmen are Jesus and St. Joseph. How did the two of them go about their work—improving their skills, finding the right wood, finding the right tools? What kind of relationships did they have with their customers—discussing the customers’ needs such as the product’s use, its…

Following up from the last post in this series: Consider, too, under the heading “surviving family members of martyrs,” the widow of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian conscientious objector (1907-1943). He refused induction into Hitler’s army and was executed. In 2007 his widow, Franziska, then age 94, and daughters Hildegard,…

I offer for your consideration three interesting groups of people: defenders of the bond; the formerly incorrigible; and surviving family members of martyrs. Defenders of the Bond In Catholic parlance, the term defender of the bond refers to the person appointed in an annulment proceeding under canon law to defend,…

In adulthood I learned that neither my father nor my mother believed in the afterlife, much to my dismay and surprise. It happened while videoing their responses to some questions I prepared with the aim of sharing their wisdom derived from the Great Depression and war years. Within an hour,…

We have all known people, or have read of people, who have adopted children or served as foster parents, often as foster parents of large numbers of children. Have you heard the story of Catholic Ruthanne “Dolly” Donahue? She was a mother of three in the 1970s when a hungry…

The preacher of the Pontifical Household, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, said this in his fourth Lenten homily (2016), on the subject of “Marriage and Family” and the holiness of married couples/parents:

In the Christian community, consecrated people and married people are able to “edify one another.” Spouses are…

A COVID vaccine soon will be available to me, as I’m nearly 79. My married brother and I recently discussed this. He is 77, has grandkids, and must business travel on commercial airplanes, so he would have to get the shot. I live like a hermit, and the only traveling…