The Narthex

Grace and holiness abound in the Body of Christ. Yet it seems that we – laity, bishops, priests, religious sisters and brothers – either do not know what holiness in laity looks like or do not know how to describe it to each other. Only two laypeople, who were holy…

A recent convert to Catholicism and I met to discuss my personal experience with monks, celibacy, and community life, as I have lived in monasteries, health resorts, and communes. Jim opened his Bible to Acts 2: 44-45: "All the believers were together and had everything in common.…

In liberal Western circles it has long been axiomatic that Christian missionaries were guilty of offenses against humanity. These include racial discrimination, genocide, the introduction of alcoholism and venereal diseases, the imposition of a sense of guilt onto innocent sexual relationships, and the heartless suppression of native cultures of great…

With the presidential election approaching, my brother and I were discussing the sad state of affairs in our beloved America: riots, conflict between liberals and conservatives, deteriorating infrastructure coast to coast, and excess national debt. My brother owns and operates several successful businesses, so he knows what it takes to…

My first desktop computer cost $3,500 in 1986. When I learned how to download international stock market data, it was exhilarating, as if contacting extraterrestrial sources. Not many had a desktop computer back then, so I thought it would give me a trading edge. I was disappointed. That computer was…

Reflecting on the West’s strategy of nuclear deterrence, Winston Churchill expressed the hope that “safety will be the sturdy child of terror, and survival the twin brother of annihilation.” Can such a hope be reasonable? Some argue that however odious it is, nuclear deterrence, in light of world realities, is…

In 1970, I arrived in San Marcos, California, on a donated bike -- the end of my ten years on the road in a cross-country penniless ministry. I found a minimum-wage job as an electrical construction estimator at a local company. After working three years, living frugally in a barn…

A portrait artist and I were strolling arm in arm at a farmers’ market, when she stopped us to view a display of landscape paintings in a shop window. She knew this local artist and wanted to say hello, so we entered to the tinkling sound of a door bell.…

I suppose if Christian civilization were to adopt a Mission Statement, as most modern enterprises do, none better could be found than the simple list of the three “theological virtues”: Faith, Hope and Love. These sum up all our duties and our aspirations. Every human on earth understands in some sense what they…

These are frightening times. Sizable numbers of our population, including apparently most of our political leaders, are clearly terrified of COVID. This is becoming increasingly obvious in public places, where the mood is subtly changing: people are afraid of each other and show their fear not only by their avoidance of contact…

At the head of my favorite exercise trail, which goes deep into the wooded back hills, stands a grove of trees maybe a hundred feet tall and aged that many years. A few weeks last autumn, I noticed people collecting things on the ground and stuffing them into satchels. They…

Let us ponder Psalm 46:10: Be still and know that I am God. The purpose of "practicing the Presence" or "mindful meditation” is achieving a quiescent mental state. In my experience, rhythmic breath control for 20 minutes daily, AM and PM, provides good training for contemplation. The human respiratory system…

Healthy human culture is inextricably linked to religion. Christopher Dawson and others have argued that ethical systems are unsustainable in the long term apart from a trust in the immanence of a good God:

Human nature always retains its spiritual character—its bond with the transcendent and the divine. If…

Casey, the homeless offspring of Gen. Robert E. Lee whom I wrote about last October, sat at a concrete picnic table in our small neighborhood park. The purple Jacarandas were in full bloom everywhere. As I approached during my daily walk, he closed the book Pillars of the Earth by Ken…

A saint is someone who lets the light shine in -- the light of Christ, Lumen Christi. And the light can become a blaze. The joyous Easter Exsultet announces, “This is the night that with a pillar of fire banished the darkness of sin.” For now, of course, contradictions abound…