The Narthex

On my regular walks each evening, I pass by a public building where meetings are held almost every night. Two ladies stood outside chatting at 8:25 PM, and I approached them. “What is this meeting about, and is it open to the public?” I asked. “Come and see,” the younger…

Vos estis lux mundi (or Vos estis for short) is Pope Francis’s recent motu proprio establishing bishop accountability. Two U.S. bishops are feeling the heat of Vos estis. One is Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minnesota, who will be investigated by Minneapolis archbishop Bernard Hebda, on charges of abuse cover-up.…

During their summer meeting, the Democratic National Committee drafted a set of resolutions in which they voice an inclusive stance toward the growing demographic of the “religiously unaffiliated.”  These resolutions clearly have a deeper meaning than just inclusivity; they aim to attack Christian values in our society. Before continuing, I'll…

Two of my old friends are in the same nursing home, so visiting them each month is a two-for-one event for me. As I walked into the entryway, a middle-aged man in a wheelchair sat with his head hung low. My friends often complain of my coming and going like…

On October 13th John Henry Newman will be canonized, the first English person in modern times to be raised to the altar. Newman comes to us as an eminent Victorian and a convert. Some say his canonization has been long in coming because he was prolific and polemical. Whether or…

The Earth is flat.  Not actually flat, but flat in the sense that man no longer sees a horizon.  Do you want proof of that?  Look no further than Labor Day.  Invented to “celebrate” American workers and their achievements, it is now little more than a bookend marking the end…

My sixth grade teacher picked me to sing a solo of “O Danny Boy,” his favorite Irish ditty. He must have liked my voice. Maybe he figured I had the Italian genes of soloists like Frank Sinatra or Perry Como. At eleven years old, my voice had not yet "broken."…

A recent Pew Research Center survey shows that nearly seven out of 10 Catholics don't believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  They see the Eucharist as "a symbol."  Alarming numbers, perhaps, but not at all surprising.  Anyone who attends Mass even semi-regularly would likely come to…

I handed out clothing and served food at a Boston Catholic Worker House during the 1960s. Homeless veterans in army jackets lined up for hot meals and warm clothing during the winter. Day after day, the same dour faces came, ate, and left. They slept in vacant buildings at night…

The devil is in the details -- and in definitions. For such details we might reflect on the new Vatican-Beijing accords, already in jeopardy, and the not-so-new nuclear weapons treaties now publicly flaunted. How about definitions? Let’s consider, as a trial run, humanism. As always, context counts. The French Revolution,…

The city built a small neighborhood park around the corner from me. Half-a-dozen homeless people congregate there. I seem to be one of their kind with my close-cut beard, Goodwill clothing, and droopy shade hat. They’ve been waving and greeting me with “Como esta?” “Muy bien,” I respond with a…

One is tempted to view feast days of the Church with a certain abstract detachment.  The events they mark seem relegated to the past and thus lack a certain realness to them.  But the Solemnity of the Assumption keeps us from succumbing to this temptation.  Among the many Marian feast…

“During a carnival, men put masks over their masks.” -- Xavier Forneret   Masks have been in use all over the world since before recorded history. In Central Africa, masks developed with a wide diversity and conveyed spiritual and religious meaning to ritual dances and ceremonies. In ancient Egypt, they…

Domestic terrorism. Religious persecution, both secular and professedly religious. The posturing of pro-abortion extremists. Assaults on democracy. Economic wars. Some weeks it’s crushingly obvious: we live in a valley of tears. Psalm 84:6-8 speaks of such a valley. So does the Marian anthem, “Hail, Holy Queen,” which so many recite…

Mother Jones magazine recently published a U.S. Mass Shootings Database for the years 1982-2019, which is available as a downloadable spreadsheet. (Google the magazine name and the name of the database; you can't miss it.) The spreadsheet includes dates, locations, number of dead and wounded, as well as details of…