The Narthex
What's Wrong With IVF?
Sex is not a 'technique' to make a child for which another 'technique' can be substituted
By John M. Grondelski | February 7th 2025 6:09 PMMany people, including Catholics, can’t see the problems with in vitro fertilization (IVF). They contend it’s “pro-life” and “gives people what they want, a baby.” So why does the Catholic Church oppose IVF? Because life and love can’t be separated, which is why Karol Wojtyla -- the future John Paul…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #18
Romanian Rain on Francis’s Common Easter Parade... Is the Vatican Tone-Deaf?... and more
By John M. Grondelski | February 6th 2025 1:11 PMRomanian Rain on Francis’s Common Easter Parade Pope Francis’s idea of launching a “common Easter” hit a road block when the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania voiced objections. His primary objection was exactly the condition Vatican II set 61 years ago in the long-dormant appendix to Sacronsanctum Concilium that Francis wants…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDoes Virginity Matter?
It is a joyful expression of God’s promise of the fulfillment of Love
By John M. Grondelski | February 4th 2025 12:53 PMAs a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you (Isaiah 62:5). The Church reads this passage twice -- every year at the Christmas Vigil Mass and early in Ordinary Time of Year…
READ FULL BLOG POSTParental Rights at Stake in Virginia
An upcoming pro-abortion amendment will smuggle in a boatload of sexual & gender ideology
By John M. Grondelski | January 13th 2025 12:57 PMWith the new year comes a new session of the Virginia Legislature, and job one of the Democrat-dominated chambers this week is writing a pro-abortion amendment into the state constitution. H.J. Res. 1 and S.J. Res. 247 will likely hit the floor in at least the lower chamber this week;…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBroken Families
Tepid religious instruction proves to be no match against the Pill, TV, and media
By Richard DellOrfano | January 7th 2025 12:33 PMI recently read a lament about fathers not attending Mass and failing as role models for their kids. Of course a much worse tragedy is that millions of kids do not know their dads. I was a long-time friend of a recently deceased elderly couple. They regularly attended St. Mary's…
READ FULL BLOG POSTGod's View & New Year's
Now is the time to adopt God’s perspective, in a variety of ways
By John M. Grondelski | January 3rd 2025 12:22 PMDid you realize the liturgy on New Year’s Day does not officially countenance the civil new year? New Year is traditionally a day when people reckon with the passage of time. That’s particularly true when it also marks the closure of a quarter century. (Yes, I know, some folks want…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDefending Holy Innocents against Bait and Switch
We must stop woke politics from displacing received Church teaching
By John M. Grondelski | December 30th 2024 12:46 PMOn the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, Pope Francis went to Rome’s Rebibbia Prison to open the holy door he established there. In his subsequent Angelus address (linked below), Francis focused on “martyrs” and those “persecuted.” And while he did not make an explicit connection to his prison…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFaith, Hope, & Children
Hope is not a concept. Hope is a child, the Child found in a manger
By John M. Grondelski | December 24th 2024 2:56 PMThe New York Times’ “Ethicist” column is an anti-gift that just keeps on giving. On December 20, it discussed “family planning in uncertain times” (a link is below). The gist of the correspondent’s question is whether, at a time when the climate is changing and the bogeyman of “overpopulation” still…
READ FULL BLOG POSTU.S. Abortion Referenda
South Dakota, Nebraska, and Florida managed to halt the pro-death narrative
By John M. Grondelski | November 7th 2024 7:16 PMTen states recently voted on abortion referenda: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. Six referenda legalizing abortion-on-demand passed; three failed (Florida, Nebraska, South Dakota). One (Nevada) passed but cannot go into effect unless passed in a second referendum. How shall we see the…
READ FULL BLOG POSTChildhood Betrayed
So-called educators are destroying the innocence of children
By James Hanink | October 30th 2024 3:29 PMDo you remember being nine? As it happens, I don’t much remember being nine. But ten was a big year for me. Golly, I had a Schwinn bike. I weighed 76 pounds. We put up a basketball hoop. The downside of that year was coming down, precociously, with “mono.” Cuidado,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPrice Tags on Embryos?
On a potential market for selling what ought not be sold
By John M. Grondelski | October 16th 2024 12:06 PMGermans are currently debating whether to lift their country's ban on donating female eggs. Germany and Luxembourg are the two EU countries that ban the practice. Can we donate the building blocks of human beings? If so, can we donate the humans themselves? Last April, The New York Times ran…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLessons from Mrs. Tkac
Death is a part of life, and pondering it should not be something alien to us
By John M. Grondelski | October 15th 2024 11:47 AMEach year as Columbus Day rolls around, I recall Mrs. Tkac. Mrs. Tkac was a childhood neighbor whose funeral I attended on Columbus Day 1968. They say that childhood impressions last longest and, I have to say, in this case, it’s true. I didn’t know Mrs. Tkac personally; I was…
READ FULL BLOG POSTReceiving a Child & One's Cross
Sacrifice is part of parenthood and marriage because it is part of the human condition
By John M. Grondelski | September 24th 2024 11:24 AMJesus told His disciples that as they “receive” a child, they receive not just Him but He who sent Him. In the past I have written about Jesus’ words in light of Catholic teaching about parenthood and openness to life (article linked below). If we are to recognize children and,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #13
The Value of a Smile... Overheard Conversations... 'The Doctor Will Kill You Now'... and more
By John M. Grondelski | September 13th 2024 2:25 PMThe Value of a Smile This morning, a woman sat opposite me on the Metro. I didn't know her nor she me, but I did notice one thing. She smiled, not just at me but at whomever she looked. She didn't try to pretend she saw nobody in a car…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Truth about Kamala Harris on Abortion
She dodges and deflects on this question to make her extremism look 'moderate'
By John M. Grondelski | September 11th 2024 12:01 PMIn her debate answers on abortion, Kamala Harris showed how she will dodge and deflect on this question to make her pro-abortion extremism look "moderate." Catholics need to be clear about -- and tells others -- how Kamala Harris (and Democrats) lie about abortion. Harris says she will “reinstate Roe…
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