The Narthex
Resurrecting the Dead
Scientists aim to keep the brain alive separate from the body
By Richard DellOrfano | July 11th 2019 3:10 PMA cousin emailed me a news clip about the latest research on reviving dead pig brains. Yale’s BrainEx experiments offer the possibility of keeping much of the brain alive separate from the body. That drastic procedure performed on humans ― which no scientific review board would currently approve ― is…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDoes Our Savior Need Us?
Jesus saves via the prayers and works of the members of His Body
By Julianne Wiley (Archive) | June 18th 2019 2:51 PMThere is only one Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer of the World. This is what the Catholic Church has always taught, since the first century AD, and still teaches -- you can look it up. Being God, He does not NEED anything. He does not NEED His…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Different Parade
We wrestle against not man but the rulers of darkness
By Rob Agnelli (Archive) | June 17th 2019 2:25 PMThe Devil is a terrible copycat. Mind you, that doesn’t stop him from trying at every turn to ape God. His greatest impersonation to do before his final curtain call, as the anti-Christ, is still in the future but he hardly ceases to have dress rehearsals. Although it may not…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDust to Dust
Time for a good confessional washing of the soul
By Richard DellOrfano | June 13th 2019 9:10 PMI was the weekend guest of a lady friend who, I discovered during my brief stay, had a fetish for cleaning her apartment. In the years I’ve known her, never have I seen her happier than when cleaning her surroundings. With the vacuum hose draped around her neck like a…
READ FULL BLOG POSTServant Fathers
Priests serve the Gospel and the people of God
By James Hanink | June 7th 2019 4:42 PMOnce upon a time, 1965 to be exact, a slim volume appeared with the title Everybody Calls Me Father. Its author was the anonymous Father X, a humble priest. (By the way, it’s still available.) Now comes Cardinal John Dew, headlined as “New Zealand’s top Catholic,” who encouraged priests not…
READ FULL BLOG POSTScaling the Heights
Our spirits hunger for more than the senses can offer
By Richard DellOrfano | June 3rd 2019 3:54 PMAccording to news reports, a shocking number of Mt. Everest climbers have been dying -- eleven at the summit and nearly 300 more below, mostly from avalanches. Recently my friend David skyped me from Florida. He is a former whiz kid of Wall Street. We usually chat about the latest…
READ FULL BLOG POSTAscension Sunday?
A moved feast gives the entire Ascension/Pentecost event a manufactured aura
By Rob Agnelli (Archive) | May 29th 2019 6:04 PMIt is that time of the liturgical year when we must face the question: Is Ascension Thursday a Holy Day of Obligation? The answer is in the affirmative as the Code of Canon Law (1246), in addition to all Sundays of the year, includes the Solemnity of the Ascension among…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMy Ticket to Heaven
In trying to stave off death, we delay going to heaven
By Richard DellOrfano | May 6th 2019 2:43 PMI was a friend of the family for 40 years and was visiting Minola, its matriarch. Minola was dying of cancer, and she lay on a hospital bed in her living room, too nauseated to eat. She’d refused the prescribed radiation and chemical cocktails because she knew her life was…
READ FULL BLOG POSTSects, Sectarianism, and Secularism
Conciliatory approaches don’t satisfy
By James Hanink | April 29th 2019 9:14 PMFunny things happen on the way to political dialogues. Not to mention that the participants say the darnedest things… On the one hand, we believe that our deepest commitments should inform our political practices. These practices, presumably, include political dialogues. On the other hand, we tell each other that true…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFrom Bad News to Good News
How can political action and giving witness to truth come together?
By James Hanink | April 17th 2019 5:04 PMMy wife and I were sitting in Pann’s, a local eatery. Filmmakers use it to get “real life” footage. Service at Pann’s is also real life, as in slow. Rena, in her mid-90’s, stopped by our table, sequins shining, to schmooze. With her husband, decades ago she’d started the place.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFor Every Idle Word
Even in our speech we are always accountable to God
By Richard DellOrfano | April 15th 2019 3:49 PMWhen I was a kid in the 1950s, a uniformed policeman with white gloves would direct the flow of traffic at busy intersections. Not any more. Now computerized robots do it better. Despite the advances of artificial intelligence by 2001, we humans still had to program unique routines into each…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBenchmarks
By God's grace we can provide for others a gold standard
By Richard DellOrfano | April 5th 2019 3:07 PMMy 15-year-old Royal Apricot tree died last year. It had borne the nectar of the gods. Taking an axe to its roots, I mourned as if a beloved monarch had passed on. I closed my eyes in memoriam to savor once again the rich harmonics of its flavorful, exotic fruits.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTChrist's Bride
The Church can be found in the Confession line
By Julianne Wiley (Archive) | April 1st 2019 2:21 PM"Evangelization is to the person of Jesus Christ, not to a church." Haven't we all heard this? With all due respect to people's good intentions in saying this, I would caution against setting up a false dichotomy. The Church is identified in Scripture as Christ's Body, and -- to use…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDeath Is Not What it Seems
God knows how difficult is the struggle against depression
By Richard DellOrfano | March 21st 2019 3:04 PMIt is the Ides of March. I’m at the San Marcos Cemetery. Its flat headstones, aligned between scraggly trees on acres of fresh-cut green grass, can’t compete with cemeteries back east. Richmond, Virginia, has historic statues 20 feet tall and Romanesque tombs inscribed with inspirational poetry and sculpted battle scenes.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTEven the Stoners Are Crying Out
Why is marijuana legalization a bad idea?
By Rob Agnelli (Archive) | March 8th 2019 5:26 PMWith presidential candidates bragging about it and state after state legalizing it, the use of recreational marijuana is fast becoming a cultural norm in our country. The Church, with only a few notable exceptions, has remained strangely silent on the issue, tacitly implying consent to the drug's “responsible use.” If…
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