The Narthex
A Vow Gone Wrong
Aquinas teaches that what is a sin ought never be the subject of a vow
By James Hanink | August 26th 2025 11:24 AMJust last week we celebrated the Feast of Pope St. Pius X. Even as children, we cradle Catholics learned that Pius X had opened the reception of the eucharist to young people like us. But the day’s liturgy, it turns out, presents us with a dark reading from the Book…
READ FULL BLOG POSTUnimaginable Things, Love of God, Restless Hearts
Man has a limitless desire for more, which should lead us to our Highest Good
By John M. Grondelski | August 19th 2025 11:08 AMO God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. Through…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFatherhood, Adoption, & Inheritance
Scripture invokes images and experiences increasingly rare and marginalized in our culture
By John M. Grondelski | August 11th 2025 12:27 PM"Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised." The Collect for the 19th…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWealth Management and Time Management
The one thing God rations is time. Use of our limited time makes or breaks our eternity
By John M. Grondelski | August 4th 2025 11:29 AMAt first glance, this past Sunday’s readings seem to focus on wealth and goods in the context of memento mori. The farmer blessed with a bountiful harvest gathers his grain into his newly-built and expanded barns, convinced he has ensured his long-term security. But his “security,” i.e., his life, does…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIs Thomas's Doubt Bad?
We sometimes jump to conclusions about others’ motivations
By John M. Grondelski | April 30th 2025 11:17 AMThe Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter (Jn 20:19-31) incorporates two appearances by Jesus to His Apostles. His first, on Easter Sunday evening, is the institution of the sacrament of Penance, entrusting the ministry of forgiveness to His Apostles. The second, a week later, is when he confronts “doubting…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIndivisible PDR
Just as we can’t have Easter without Good Friday, neither can we have Good Friday without Easter
By John M. Grondelski | April 21st 2025 11:52 AMBack in my undergraduate theology days Fr. Robert Werenski, our Bible professor, regularly came back to what he called the “PDR” -- the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We Catholics call it the “Paschal Mystery,” which we just finished celebrating during the Paschal Triduum but still have seven…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWhy Not 'Harden Your Heart'?
To receive sanctifying grace we must not resist God, play deaf, or put Him off
By John M. Grondelski | April 9th 2025 5:27 PMScripture exhorts us, “O, that today you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts!” (Ps 95:7-8; Heb 3:7-8). Occasionally, that verse appears as a refrain to the Responsorial Psalm at Mass. For those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours, Morning Prayer usually begins with Psalm 95. Why…
READ FULL BLOG POSTGod's Dwelling Place among Men
God seeks to dwell in the temple that is the human person
By John M. Grondelski | February 18th 2025 1:35 PMThe Opening Prayer (Collect) for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) implores, “O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you.” Let us examine…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Term of Endearment for the Holy Spirit
Toward a more intimate relationship with the Third Person of the Trinity
By James Thunder | January 17th 2025 1:03 PMWhen my youngest child, Frances Clare, was in a primary grade, she was doing homework in a religion workbook. Her big sister, Kateri Grace, was helping her. Frances was having trouble with this fill-in-the-blank sentence: “God is the Supreme _____.” Kateri responded with her suggested answer. Frances became upset and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLogic, Ethics, & Refusal to Comply
Amid the current disorder, nonviolent civil disobedience might be our best strategy
By James Hanink | January 14th 2025 12:01 PMHow much does logic matter? It matters greatly if we are to love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole mind. But does logic matter to God? Rene Descartes was skeptical. In replying to critics, he contended that “God could have brought it about … that…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLost Opportunity
The rich young man kept his wealth. But what opportunity cost did he pay?
By John M. Grondelski | October 18th 2024 2:18 PM"Opportunity cost” is the term economists use to define the forgone benefit that would have been derived from an option other than the one that was chosen. My choice of X over Y, for example, may be cheaper right now. But over the long run, due to hidden costs, inferior…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Unity of the Moral Life
The social order is not insulated from the Law of God
By John M. Grondelski | September 4th 2024 11:26 AMLast Sunday’s readings focused on the unity of the moral life, the common thread connecting the readings. Because some clergy might have been inclined to focus on the “heart,” on the intention of the moral agent, let’s take a step back and see all the readings in one big picture.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTChoosing & Seeing Christ
Three thoughts about the readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
By John M. Grondelski | August 26th 2024 8:51 PM“Accompaniment” is a buzzword in the Francis papacy. It’s striking, then, that it appeared in the Gospel last Sunday, though not exactly in the manner to which current ecclesiastics have grown accustomed. Sunday’s Gospel wrapped up the Eucharistic teaching of Jesus we have been reading from John 6 these last…
READ FULL BLOG POSTEzekiel & the Ecclesia
Are we serious about the cleansing of the temple?
By John M. Grondelski | August 22nd 2024 12:09 PMIn the middle of summer in Year II of the weekday lectionary, the Church’s First Reading includes excerpts from the major prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel wrote during and after the Exile. To situate the story: For those who remember their grade school world history, Israel was at the western end of…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLife, Death, & Assumption
The Solemnity is a pro-life holy day that reveals Mary’s model of greatness
By John M. Grondelski | August 19th 2024 12:14 PMAs the Solemnity of the Assumption once more fades away for another year, some parting thoughts on the significance of the feast: One: It's a Pro-life Holy Day Three unborn children appear in the readings for the Solemnity, one in the First Reading, two in the Gospel. The child in…
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