The Narthex
'Social Justice,' 'Solidarity,' or Just Slogans?
Woke 'tolerance' goes only one way & selfish individualism ruins ritual
By John M. Grondelski | June 1st 2023 2:19 PMMy eldest son, John Zygmunt, graduated college last month with a double major. I’m proud of him and happily joined his commencement exercises at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia. GMU, one of the largest public universities in the Commonwealth, proudly boasted that this year’s 11,000 undergrad and grad…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIs There a Moral Limit to Taxes?
While the state has a claim to taxes, that claim is not unlimited
By John M. Grondelski | May 30th 2023 2:56 PMOn Thursday, May 25, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important decision in the case of Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota et al. Bottom line up front: a unanimous Supreme Court swatted down Hennepin County’s property tax collecting policy. I’m commenting on it because there are aspects of the…
READ FULL BLOG POSTGod's Small Favors
Every so often, God’s angels stage small favors to delight us
By Richard DellOrfano | May 25th 2023 11:59 AMThe parking lot was crammed, so I asked God to provide a car space. Sure enough, I spotted a car leaving and pulled in right after. Sometimes I forget to ask, but it happens anyway because my guardian angel is ever vigilant doing favorable things for me. After shopping, I…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMy Boys as Sign and Gift
The people at Misericordia reveal that God’s gifts to us are unlimited -- Part 3
By James Thunder | May 15th 2023 11:48 AMMy boys who live in the Village at Misericordia, in Chicago, are a sign to us all that not one of us has merited anything. How hard it is for us to accept the truth that we have not merited what we see every day and what we think (and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Eroding Right to Self-Defense
Subways do not exist to be substitute institutions for those who need institutionalization
By John M. Grondelski | May 8th 2023 2:50 PMAs a moral theologian, I am interested in just war theory. Just war theory, which governs whether a country can go to war (jus ad bellum) and what it can do in war (jus in bello), is essentially a nation’s right to self-defense. That’s why I reject the arguments that…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLife at Misericordia
A village of nine homes, founded by Sr. Rosemary Connolly -- Part 2
By James Thunder | May 8th 2023 11:40 AMIf you were to visit Misericordia, you would first see the impressive physical setting. The grounds are spacious and are beautifully landscaped with shrubs, pine trees, tulip bulbs, a gazebo, and a toboggan hill. The Village consists of nine homes. They are lovely and spacious. Each has six full baths…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Heart of Mercy
Sr. Rosemary Connolly and the residents, staff, volunteers, and benefactors of Chicago’s Misericordia
By James Thunder | May 1st 2023 2:01 PMOn Sunday, May 21, the University of Notre Dame will award its highest honor, the Laetare Medal, to Sister Rosemary Connolly, RSM (Religious Sister of Mercy), age 92. When the announcement was made on Laetare Sunday, it was accompanied by a video (linked at the bottom of this post). Previous…
READ FULL BLOG POSTNo Great Expectations
Are bleeding wounds, not paying subway fares, and getting stoned before breakfast now normal?
By John M. Grondelski | April 13th 2023 12:10 PMThe Tuesday after Easter, preparing to exit the Washington Metro at my usual stop, I waited for the car doors to open. My eye caught something red on the edge of the door, which extended downwards, even to a blotch on the floor. I’m not a biologist, but I think…
READ FULL BLOG POSTOn Not Hearing Back
A modest proposal on the phenomenon of letters sent but unanswered
By James Hanink | April 4th 2023 3:42 PM“Well, did you ever hear back”? You thought you’d ask her, since two weeks ago your spouse “fired off” a letter to a chap whose head isn’t on straight. Or maybe you ask the same of the secretary of a committee (a group graced by your presence). After all, you’d…
READ FULL BLOG POSTVerbal Violence
The self-reference pronoun 'they' implies lost self-unity & 'it' declares self-objectification
By James Hanink | January 23rd 2023 10:32 PMA Civil Rights activist turned thug named H. Rap Brown was right. “Violence,” he said, “is as American as cherry pie.” Violence is also pluriform, and it includes the violence we do to language when we turn that violence on ourselves. Here’s an example. Last week in Atlanta police shot…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Faith of a Teen, in the 1830s
Friends of Lorenzo B. Shepard raised $3,000 in 1858 to build a monument atop his grave
By James Thunder | October 14th 2022 12:07 PMLorenzo B. (for Brewster) Shepard was a prominent lawyer and politician in his time. He had a meteoric rise before he died suddenly at age 35 in 1856. For example, he was appointed by the president in 1849, at only age 27, to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern…
READ FULL BLOG POSTOn California’s Prop 1
An open letter to a public servant regarding a grave injustice
By James Hanink | October 10th 2022 8:31 PMPeople matter first, and that’s always and everywhere true. So I begin with a thumbnail sketch of my neighbor, Alex Padilla. He’s an affable fellow. Gregarious. Even avuncular. Alex is a family man with three adult children. Padilla also holds a key post as a Special Investigator with the Los…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMini-Synod with Old Friends
Our group was asked 'How has the Church helped you' and 'hurt you?'
By James Hanink | September 12th 2022 9:13 PMA read of the German synod documents reminds me that revisionists are keener on erasing than on building. But no one invited me. I did get invited to a mini-synod session by classmates from the minor seminary that I attended for six years. What led to the mini-synod was an…
READ FULL BLOG POSTChristians, Stay Away
Faithful families can plan on fewer activities at public pools, libraries, and summer camps
By Barbara Rose | May 23rd 2022 4:39 PMOver at The Federalist, author Joy Pullmann's article "The Left Has Effectively Banned Christian Kids From Public Pools, Libraries, And Summer Camps" paints a picture of what beleaguered Christian parents have to look forward to this summer (May 23). Pullmann's description of interactions with formerly benign groups like 4-H leaves…
READ FULL BLOG POSTUnmoored Hermits
Many people choose to live in solitude—but outside of organized religion
By Richard DellOrfano | May 20th 2022 4:15 PMAnthony the Great, known as the father and founder of monasticism, fled to the Egyptian desert in AD 270 at 19 years old. He chose to live as an extreme ascetic, renouncing all pleasure of the senses from rich foods, sex, bathing, and anything tempting his flesh to take its…
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