The Narthex

Saturday, October 28 is the second full moon of autumn which, by tradition, has in the United States been called “Hunter’s Moon.” (The first full moon is called “Harvest Moon”). The name comes from the fact that, in earlier times when food was found in field and forest, hunters would…

The November issue of Commentary, a monthly magazine of conservative Jewish thought, features a great essay, “Psalms They Have, But They Know Not.” Rabbi Meir Soloveichik ponders American Biblical ignorance, especially among its “educated,” and its implications. The immediate impetus for his article was an incident last summer on the…

Fr. William Ryan is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington who, since 2006, has served as a missionary in Togo, a country the size of Maryland, in western Africa. Ryan’s love affair with Togo dates back to the early 1970s when, before he studied for the priesthood, he joined…

Today is the memorial of St. Isaac Jogues and Companions -- the 17th century Jesuit North American Martyrs -- slain in upper New York State. So far, they haven’t been cancelled as have Franciscan Junipero Serra or Jesuit Pierre-Jean De Smet. I feared they might, especially after Pope Francis’s 2022…

Imagine a protest in which activists chant, “What do we want? Free publicity! When do we want it? Now!” Easy enough, right? Isn’t it already the subtext of many demonstrations? Or imagine a political campaign soliciting money chiefly in order to solicit more money. Again, easy enough. Isn’t it the…

My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a 2002 movie about a Greek-American woman navigating life in America between the expectations of her immigrant family and assimilationist impulses in the United States. Rife with stereotypes, it traces Toula Portokalos’s life as a kid growing up with parents that run a diner,…

Consider the following reflection on the true purpose and goal of human civilization: "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). This stunning statement assures us, with crystal clarity, that God's dwelling place is beyond and outside time. It's true that Scripture often tries to explain eternity by analogy with time…

November 11 is Veterans Day -- about five weeks from now. On that day we honor those who have served, and especially those who have died, for their country. How do we honor those veterans? The typical American approach is to give speeches, pay tributes, and eventually to lay a…

So often does Pope Francis speak of mercy that some wonder whether mercy has become an unconditional and universal absolution. It is not. Definitely not. Whatever his limits might be, Francis’s words about abortionists and arms merchants are anything but exculpatory. Indeed, St. John Paul II’s encyclical on mercy, Dives…

The recent Gospel about what two sons did with their father’s call to work in his vineyard seems fitting for the week we begin a “synod about synodality.” The Gospel is ultimately about sin and repentance. Both sons sin. One sins by refusing to work in the vineyard, although he…

October 2 is the Memorial of the Guardian Angels. Once a year, the Church reminds us of an important tradition that points to God’s Providential care: that each human person receives a guardian angel to accompany him in life. Your path to heaven is not solitary; you are accompanied by…

I’m blessed to have the Rev. Paul Scalia as a pastor, in part because he inspires me with lines of theological thought I hadn’t considered. He did that last Sunday, with his reflections on the Gospel of the Vineyard Owner who pays all his workers a day’s wage. Fr. Scalia…

Last Sunday’s readings focused on the corrosive effect of unjust anger and its ability to choke off -- as in the case of the wicked servant’s debtor, literally -- mercy. There is, of course, the danger of thinking that all anger is always bad. That’s not true. Anger is an…

“Philosophy begins in wonder.” So says Aristotle in his Metaphysics. Reflecting on this text, St. Thomas teaches that a goal of metaphysics is to establish the truth about the first and universal causes of things. If we achieve this goal, he writes, “there should be no wonder because the causes…

Last Sunday’s Gospel focused on fraternal correction and the steps required for the gradual acceleration of a process to correct an errant brother. From informal conversation to discussion in front of witnesses to Church adjudication to excommunication, fraternal correction makes clear that the integrity of ecclesial teaching trumps “welcome” and,…