The Narthex

Here in California there’s a debate about licensing cosmetologists. For my part, I wish there weren’t any to license. Plato would understand. In his Gorgias he compared politicians with cosmeticians. Both are busy about disguising reality. Cosmologists are another matter altogether. They’re the folks keen to answer the big questions…

On Christmas Day, holy and radiant, we stand at the turning point of all human longing, a longing that began at the gates of Eden and echoed through every generation that followed. From the first moment of rupture between God and man, the world has carried a deep ache for…

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…

"What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun." So Ecclesiastes tells us. There’s a truth here, and the lament finds an echo in the voices of those who discover how deeply weary this world…

Given that St. John Henry Newman was made a Doctor of the Church on November 1, I am sharing with you the materials I provided students in grades 6 through 9 whom I tutored on 50 great speeches of the Western world in 2020-21. Newman’s “Second Spring” sermon is an…

Recent years have seen a “war on Christmas.” It takes the form of turning Christmas into a holiday in the closet, daring not to speak its name. Instead, we say “happy holidays,” while kids get “winter break” from school. Those who contend there’s a war on Christmas argue that its…

Some Western European clerics are again singing the praises of secularization. The latest, according to Stefano Fontana, is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Italy. (His November 17 opening address to the bishops’ meeting in Assisi is linked below.) That song, however, is hardly…

“Pleasure is what makes us human,” or so a bold new TV advert tells us. Well, then, AI doesn’t make the cut. Isn’t Fido, though, still a candidate? Not so. While the dog may be man’s best friend, anyone whose best friend is a dog needs help, and from a…

Catholics have traditionally dedicated November to prayer for the souls in Purgatory, especially on All Souls' Day. To encourage efficacious prayer for the departed, the Church grants a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, to Catholics who visit a cemetery from November 1-8 and pray for the dead. The indulgence…

Today is the feast of Ss. Simon and Jude. They are two of the lesser known apostles, although in the American Church in the 20th century, there was a popular devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus. Many parishes conducted novenas to him as patron of impossible causes and things despaired of.…

A few weeks ago, the Missionary of Charity Brothers celebrated the 50th Anniversary of their presence in Los Angeles. First, a bit of history. With the blessing of their foundress Mother Teresa, in 1966 Br. Andrew (originally a Jesuit priest) began his service as co-founder of the Congregation, centered in…

Pneumatology is that branch of theology dealing with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is understood as indwelling in the Church and keeping her from error. The Church’s inerrancy is neither political nor historical; she can and has made mistakes in those areas. The Church’s inerrancy is related to her…

Philosophers are intrigued by “performative speech.” In the right circumstances, “I promise” binds the speaker to act as promised. Similarly in the right context “I thee wed” binds one to a shared conjugal life. The British philosopher J. L. Austin spoke of “illocutionary acts,” that is, speech acts that accomplish,…

Many of this journal's readers likely grew up saying the poetic prayer, "Angel of God, my guardian dear." And not a few Catholic homes likely had some version of early 20th century German artist Fridolin Leiber's prints of Schutzengel -- the "guardian angel" -- usually supporting two children in some perilous…

Sixty years have passed since Vatican II. Sixty-one years have passed since Lumen gentium, which reminded us that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life around which all the sacraments revolve (no. 11). Sixty-two years have passed since Sacrosanctum Concilium taught that "the liturgy is the…