The Narthex
Theo-Economic Assumptions
Why do some think largesse, not thrift, is the only proper Catholic response?
By John M. Grondelski | April 4th 2025 2:07 PMWriting in the National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters criticizes the economic thinking of the Trump Administration, particularly the priorities of Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought (the article is linked below). This paragraph particularly caught me:
The marriage of fiscal austerity with Christian values strikes…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWe Need 'Reliable Jobs'
American business can and must include the worker
By John M. Grondelski | March 13th 2025 12:34 PMOren Cass, formerly of the Manhattan Institute and now of American Compass, is a public policy thinker I respect. I may not agree with everything he says -- for example, he’s willing to make peace with a “secular conservatism” to attract today’s young and religiously disaffiliated -- but I especially…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Good Film about Sin
It shows sin has its consequences and demands some measure of atonement
By John M. Grondelski | March 7th 2025 11:29 AMAs we settle into Lent, let me recommend a good film about sin worth watching: Sven Nykvist’s 1991 film The Ox. The film is set in 1867 Sweden. Mid-19th century Sweden was not like wealthy, 21st-century Sweden. There is a reason Minnesota and North Dakota have as many Swedes and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #19
Pohutsky’s Pregnancy Problem... Sex and Babies... Resisting Dialogue... and more
By John M. Grondelski | February 11th 2025 12:00 PMPohutsky’s Pregnancy Problem Laurie Pohutsky is a “bisexual” Michigan Democratic State Representative from northern Wayne County (the county where Detroit sits). You’d probably never hear about a member of the Wolverine State’s legislature -- even the chair of the “Progressive Women’s Caucus" -- except for the fact that Pohutsky took…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIVF Is Not Pro-Life
It entails selective reductions, discards, and at least one million frozen embryos
By John M. Grondelski | February 10th 2025 1:24 PMI recently criticized in vitro fertilization (IVF) as being, despite appearances, unloving. It raises questions of spousal exclusivity when other peoples’ gametes are used. It raises questions of alienation from our bodies and our child’s, who subtly shifts from a gift to be welcomed to a commodity to be ordered.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWhat's Wrong With IVF?
Sex is not a 'technique' to make a child for which another 'technique' can be substituted
By John M. Grondelski | February 7th 2025 6:09 PMMany people, including Catholics, can’t see the problems with in vitro fertilization (IVF). They contend it’s “pro-life” and “gives people what they want, a baby.” So why does the Catholic Church oppose IVF? Because life and love can’t be separated, which is why Karol Wojtyla -- the future John Paul…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDoes Virginity Matter?
It is a joyful expression of God’s promise of the fulfillment of Love
By John M. Grondelski | February 4th 2025 12:53 PMAs a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you (Isaiah 62:5). The Church reads this passage twice -- every year at the Christmas Vigil Mass and early in Ordinary Time of Year…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCommon-Home Confusion
Do we have a 'moral duty' to accept all refugees and immigrants legal and illegal?
By John M. Grondelski | January 23rd 2025 10:01 PMIf you own a home, how many guests do you have to welcome? Most normal people would say, “As many or as few a I want. There is no obligation to have guests.” If you asked those people, “And how many of those guests should be allowed to move in…
READ FULL BLOG POSTParental Rights at Stake in Virginia
An upcoming pro-abortion amendment will smuggle in a boatload of sexual & gender ideology
By John M. Grondelski | January 13th 2025 12:57 PMWith the new year comes a new session of the Virginia Legislature, and job one of the Democrat-dominated chambers this week is writing a pro-abortion amendment into the state constitution. H.J. Res. 1 and S.J. Res. 247 will likely hit the floor in at least the lower chamber this week;…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Good Work Begun in Us
Good moral action is always a divine-human partnership
By John M. Grondelski | December 15th 2024 11:22 PMThe Second Sunday of Advent’s Second Reading makes an observation all too often lost (since homilists rarely preach on the Second Reading) about the Divine-human dynamic in the good men do. In the text, St. Paul expresses confidence “that the one who began a good work in you will continue…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFull Disclosure
Advent Preface I reads, When the Lord comes again 'all is at last made manifest'
By John M. Grondelski | December 6th 2024 5:21 PMDuring Advent, the Church uses two different Prefaces at Mass: one for most of Advent, the other for Advent’s last nine days. We have two because their foci are different: Advent Preface I looks forward to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of history, while Advent Preface II shifts back,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTU.S. Abortion Referenda
South Dakota, Nebraska, and Florida managed to halt the pro-death narrative
By John M. Grondelski | November 7th 2024 7:16 PMTen states recently voted on abortion referenda: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. Six referenda legalizing abortion-on-demand passed; three failed (Florida, Nebraska, South Dakota). One (Nevada) passed but cannot go into effect unless passed in a second referendum. How shall we see the…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPrice Tags on Embryos?
On a potential market for selling what ought not be sold
By John M. Grondelski | October 16th 2024 12:06 PMGermans are currently debating whether to lift their country's ban on donating female eggs. Germany and Luxembourg are the two EU countries that ban the practice. Can we donate the building blocks of human beings? If so, can we donate the humans themselves? Last April, The New York Times ran…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHiding from God versus Boxing up God
Do we withdraw from the sacred, or do we try to circumscribe it?
By John M. Grondelski | September 12th 2024 11:50 AMFollowing the Fall, the human reaction was to hide from God. When God calls to the man and the woman, the man announces he is hiding, ostensibly because of his nakedness -- which he also was before he sinned -- but really because of the guilt sin unleashed. It unleashed…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIs Retirement 'Unproductive'?
Should human life be seen primarily through an economic lens?
By John M. Grondelski | September 6th 2024 11:41 AMWe need to change the subject in discussions about retirement from the economic (in)solvency of Social Security to the meaning and significance of retirement. My thoughts on this were sparked by a new book by Teresa Ghilarducci titled Work, Retire, Repeat. Her argument is that many people are working past…
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