The Narthex

We are constantly flooded with stimuli -- so much so that we often fail to notice when seemingly unrelated developments share a common logic. Consider two recent pieces in The New York Times. In one, Oren Cass criticizes what he calls “financialization”: an economy increasingly devoted not to producing goods…

The Church’s weekday readings are making their way through the glory days of kingship in Israel, the reigns of David and Solomon. (That is to contrast them with the less-than-glorious rulers, subsequent to the division of Israel and Judah.) On Saturday, the First Reading featured Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, wisdom…

The Jewish website Mosaic carried Adam Eilath’s interesting article “Jews Must Resist Becoming a People of the Screen.” The author reflects on traditional Jewish religious education. It’s not by accident that Jews (and later Christians) were called “people of the Book,” because of the centrality of Scripture to their faith.…

Amazon has produced a docudrama on the First Lady, Melania. You might love it or hate it (or, like me, haven't seen it) but promotion of an incumbent First Lady is not uncommon. If you doubt it, ask how many times Vogue featured Jill Biden on its front cover --…

I grew up in a New Jersey Rust Belt town which has lost its factories and is now somewhat economically depressed: Perth Amboy. Its name is unusual, a blend of cultures.  “Perth” comes from the Earl of Perth in Scotland, who was one of the backers of the city's 17th…

Those who read the Bible’s wisdom books know that they deal a lot with the quotidian: when to speak and when to shut up, how to conduct one’s self publicly, how to win friends and influence people. No surprise there, and sapiential literature was not unique to Israel. It was…

Almost fifty years out from the 1969 Roman Calendar reform seems a fitting distance to assess what works and what hasn’t. By and large, I think the Calendar reform has been correct and pastorally successful, but I would offer three changes. First, I would jettison the periods of “Ordinary Time”…

The title of a recent New York Times op-ed (“The Trouble with My Father’s Resting Place,” Jan. 2) caught my eye because it seemed, for once, that maybe somebody else had recognized the point I’ve long made: cremation deprives people of a final resting place. (Ultimately, that recognition didn't happen.) The…

January 6 is the traditional date for the Solemnity of the Epiphany. In the United States, it has been transferred for decades to the first Sunday after January 1. It fell on January 4 this year. Some liturgists would argue that Epiphany was, indeed, the original “Christmas” feast and that…

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, celebrated on January 1, the Octave of Christmas, is a holyday of obligation. There’s an argument to be made that its status is progressively being eroded. Looking at some parish bulletins, I noticed a cutback in the number of Masses offered. That anecdotal…

How Politicians Coopt the Christian Message – with Christian Complicity Earlier I voiced objection to the Massachusetts nativity scene that replaced Baby Jesus with an “ICE was here” sign because it diverts from the purpose of a Nativity scene. A manger on public view is a proclamation of faith in…

A vicious controversy has just erupted in Poland over the “Round Table.” The “Round Table” refers both to the literal circular table and the historic discussions held around it in early 1989, when some parts of the Polish opposition met with the ruling Communists to discuss the country’s future. Out…

Why are Prisoners in Prison? On December 14, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the “Jubilee of Prisoners.” His homily is replete with “hope.” Sometimes it almost suggests the Parousia is about to arrive, immanently. Leo says we must build a “society established on new criteria, and ultimately on charity…”…

Another Example of Inverted Pneumatology I’ve criticized a distorted theology of the Holy Spirit I’ve called “inverted pneumatology,” which pretends that today the Holy Spirit primarily speaks not to the world from the Church but rather teaches the Church from a secularized world. Writing in the National Catholic Reporter (I…

Timothy Reichert’s “Christian Ownership Maximalism” is an original article (linked below) in the December 2025 issue of First Things. It deserves wide readership, thorough debate, and I’d argue adoption in Catholic circles. Christendom as we have known it -- whether the religiously suffused culture of medieval Europe or the ethnic…