Recently, a reader wrote me with an interesting question: I have a theological problem with the statement of Blessed Mother Teresa: “Everyone is Jesus Christ in disguise,” which is one of the main mottos also of the Focolare Movement: “To see Jesus Christ in everyone.” I accept obviously and wholeheartedly Matthew 25:31-46 (especially 42-46): “For … Read more
Silent movies were never silent; they were always accompanied by some manner of music, sometimes a full symphony orchestra led by white-tied and usually white-haired conductors, but more often the celebrated theater organist. For Chippy and me, this has been the summer of silents – excuse me – “pre-dialogue movies” more accurately describes the genre. … Read more
A friend of mine, a cradle Catholic who doubts her faith, asked me what she should teach her four-year old about religion. “Everything,” I said, “heaven, hell, God, angels, sin, grace, forgiveness, don’t leave anything out.” “How can I do that,” she responded, “when I’m not sure myself?” Such attempts at parental honesty can leave … Read more
On August 23, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued an injunction prohibiting the use of federal funds to support human embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), because it violated federal law prohibiting the destruction of human embryos. Even if his ruling is overturned by the Supreme Court (it’s unclear which way Justice Anthony Kennedy, who … Read more
New York recently became the fiftieth state to allow no-fault divorce — an occasion that prompted New York resident Beverly Willett to reflect on her experience fighting to save her own marriage from divorce eight years ago. It was a grueling, five-year-long battle against a husband who had cheated on her and wanted out on … Read more
The reaction to my “coming out” as Jolly last week has been huge. It turns out that we are larger than we realized! (That’s Jolly in-joke humor. We can say things like that. If you say it, it’s oppressive, obesophobic hate speech, and I will have your butt in court faster than you can say … Read more
I’m reading a book I’d recommend to all parents: Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need To Matter More Than Peers, by child development expert Dr. Gordon Neufeld and physician Dr. Gabor Mate. The authors’ views fly in the face of many modern parenting books that focus on behavioral changes and skill-building. Neufeld and … Read more
Michael Tanner, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of the excellent Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution, has some advice for the GOP on the upcoming elections. Stop me if you’ve heard this before… Despite their repeated threats to stay home if Republicans deviated from a commitment … Read more
The purpose of higher education is the pursuit of truth, and throughout history men and women have devoted their lives to it. One such man was Mohandas Gandhi. Born in 1869, the son of uneducated parents, he was a mediocre student and a self-described coward who feared ghosts — into adulthood, he slept with a … Read more
The latest issue of the New Yorker has an excellent piece on the current sorry state of end-of-life care in this country — and not because of politics, or insurance companies, or any of the usual culprits. Rather, Dr. Atul Gawande says that, however good modern medicine has become at prolonging life, we are more … Read more
“You see, I am not a Christian,” said the young man at lunch, chilling the conversation in an instant. He was exceptionally good looking, and obviously intelligent, but also obviously sad. His father, a former Protestant minister who was essentially driven out of his church for his faithfulness to the Scriptural directives regarding human sexuality, … Read more
Yes, I’m turning 40 this year. And I realize that this past year – the last one in my 30’s – I have gone through a minor midlife crisis. Lacking the funds to purchase a sports car and being too in love with my wife and kids to start flirting with anything that would cause … Read more
The other morning, when I attempted to start the family van, it hesitated and then stalled. I did not panic. It does this sometimes. One thing you learn quickly as a mother of a large family with a not-so-large income is that it is necessary to be patient with your vehicles. And your appliances. These … Read more
Imagine Jeffery Immelt, Steve Jobs, or Richard Branson issuing an edict that asks their legion of employees to submit ideas for cost cutting. Let’s say they receive thousands of suggestions and then open the suggestions to their peers for voting. Then the creator of the winning idea gets a photo-op with the CEO. And yet, … Read more
Of all the works of mercy, probably the most thankless and despised is admonishing the sinner. Nobody wants to do it (except human toothaches and people who never get invited to parties), and nobody wants it done to them. “Repent!” is one of those words that eats at the heart of all but the most … Read more
Reflecting on Corpus Christi Sunday, Joe Escalante has a suggestion for getting kids more interested in the Faith: seize on the wild and supernatural. Focus on rivers of blood, secret language (Latin), 3D Gothic images, Gregorian chants, etc. And dress those Knights of Columbus like Roman soldiers for effect and get them out of those … Read more
We moderns can be awfully smug when it comes to Old Testament laws about ritual impurity. As heirs to post-Enlightenment thought, it’s easy for us to basically assume they were nothing but pre-scientific attempts to avoid disease, as though the Old Testament was principally concerned with, “How do I avoid trichinosis?” but kept slipping … Read more
God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth. This mission was confided to them, not to let it become stale but to make it bear fruit. They were called to take care of it, to tend it, and to develop it. Nature was the material, and man was to foster its development and to … Read more
Are the liberal arts and sexual morality connected? There is strong evidence that they are, for if we graph their development over the last half-century, we will see an almost identical curve of accelerating decline. Although this proves nothing, it certainly suggests something worth exploring more deeply. Spectacular proof of the decline of the liberal … Read more
Normally, when seeing author James Carroll write things like, “Celibacy cuts to the heart of what is wrong in the Catholic Church today,” I would roll my eyes and move on. But over at America Magazine, Father Jim Martin isn’t taking the insult lying down. Father Martin first quotes from Carroll’s article: No, celibacy does … Read more