Some virtues get a bad name because of the ways their names are used. For instance, the mighty, cosmic force St. Thomas calls Charity, which Dante said “moves the sun and other stars,” nowadays calls to mind instead a hovercraft full of eels. By which I mean a writhing mass of irrelevant mental images: tax … Read more
A certain mindset that postmodernity finds very appealing identifies purity with sterility. To be pure is, in this view, to be uncontaminated, germ-free, barren, scrubbed, metallic. This mindset (which is actually very ancient) tends to think of “pure” spirituality as a spirituality unsoiled by contact with grosser elements such as matter and, most especially, … Read more
The other day I was already thinking about gratitude when I started reading about old students and friends suffering from the continuing — the continuous — degeneration of the Episcopal church. Some of them faced losing their jobs, or had already lost them, but most of them suffered simply from seeing the communion they had … Read more
Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney was born on May 8, 1786, three years before the world would collapse into the chaos of the French Revolution. His schooling did not start until he was nine. It lasted only three years. When Jean was eleven, an underground priest stopped at the Vianney family farm. When he asked Jean … Read more
In an interview published at National Review Online, Gian Maria Vian, editor of L’Osservatore Romano, responded to his critics. Vian makes it clear that he doesn’t have a high opinion of writers, like me, who have taken him to task for his treatment of President Barack Obama: I think that if American Catholics … Read more
It’s interesting to be known as “the Catholic guy” at a public university in a predominantly Baptist town. I don’t think I fully understood the implications, however, until quite recently. It was February, and I was in Little Rock for the Southeastern Conference’s women’s basketball tournament. While I was out of town, some undergraduate student … Read more
Having come back from a two-week trek through Europe, I return this week to the subject of the virtues — this time, it’s Patience. Regular readers of mine might complain that here I’m preaching to the choir: Surely they of all people have mastered this virtue, if only by working their way through my labyrinthine … Read more
“Whereto serves mercy, but to confront the visage of offence?” asks Portia in The Merchant of Venice. It’s a good question, and one that most of us don’t really think about these days. That’s because, increasingly, we are a culture that only has “mercy” on people who “couldn’t help it” or “didn’t know any better.” … Read more
In the last several years I’ve been invited to a few dozen colleges and churches around the country, usually to speak about Dante. It’s no surprise, I guess, that a translator of the Divine Comedy should receive such invitations. What is surprising, though, and what confounds the secularist who derives his news from Mother Times … Read more
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Mt 5:6). The goods of this world, though they remain good, can be deceptive when you are a member of a fallen race. In certain moods of rude good health and the flush of adolescent insolence, it is all too … Read more
June 1 was a lovely day in Northern Virginia when the staff of InsideCatholic gathered with friends for our annual Lazarus Golf Tournament at Bull Run Golf Club, nestled against the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Before playing, however, we hosted a roundtable discussion entitled “The Future of the Christian Vote: Is It in … Read more
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord (1754-1838) was a scandalous bishop, adroit foreign minister, and quintessential survivor who served the French Revolution, Napoleon, and the restored Bourbon monarchy with equally cold-blooded skill. Slippery character though he was, however, Talleyrand also was a wit. In Earthly Powers, his valuable history of the interaction between religion and politics in … Read more
Today’s Beatitude — “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt 5:5) — continues Jesus’ tradition of transmuting lead into gold. Just as nobody wants to be poor and nobody wants to mourn, so nobody wants to be “meek.” That’s because we think of the meek as doormats and dartboards. We assume … Read more
Why do Catholics make such good judges? Well, it depends what you mean by "Catholics," I suppose. What I had in mind was a person in no doubt about any of the propositions in the Catholic creeds — including no doubt that the words mean what they say, and not something else. That … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mark P. Shea lays out the case against artificial contraception. It’s stronger than you might think. If you had collared me before I was Catholic and asked my opinion of Rome’s teaching on artificial contraception, I would have said something like this: I understand and applaud the Magisterium’s … Read more
In the midst of the current controversy over the Theology of the Body, Dr. Michael Waldstein says Christopher West’s work is “deep and faithful.” I know that David Schindler is a careful scholar, but I was surprised and taken aback by his recent blanket negative statement about Christopher West in reaction to West’s Nightline … Read more
When the Democratic Party gained control of Congress three years ago, as part of its “100 Hour” plan it quickly introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. The partisan debate was predictable: Democratic advocates of the raise cited concern for poor and working families, and Republican … Read more
A while back, on the fateful day of April 15 that reminds each of us how much worse off we are than medieval serfs — whose “tax” to the feudal lord was typically capped at 10 percent — I promised to counterbalance my consideration of the Seven Deadly Sins with the Seven Contrary Virtues. Then, … Read more
The beatitude teaches us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). The gospel calls us to a paradox in its teaching on poverty. First, it bids us recognize in the face of the poor the face of Christ. Our culture is resistant to this idea and … Read more
On July 11, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rev. Federico Lombardi, S.J., to be the director of the Vatican Press Office. Father Lombardi took over a position held for 22 years by Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a numerary of Opus Dei. It is possible, however, that Father Lombardi may not even make it to the third … Read more