The Narthex
The Need to Stop Grasping
Christ shows man the path by not 'grasping' himself but taking the form of obedient servant
By John M. Grondelski | September 16th 2025 11:56 AMLast Sunday’s Second Reading -- for the Exaltation of the Cross, which preempted the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time -- was St. Paul’s great hymn of Jesus’ self-emptying, his kenosis (Phil 2:6-11). One of the key texts in that hymn is verse 6, where Jesus is presented as treating divinity…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWhat Is 'True Freedom'?
Many hold to a false notion of freedom, one that treats freedom as an end rather than a means
By John M. Grondelski | September 9th 2025 11:39 AMThe Sunday homily usually reflects on the readings for that day. Typically, that means the Gospel and maybe the First Reading, which often is linked to the Gospel. The Second Reading is usually odd man out since in their wisdom the designers of the new Lectionary decided on a continual…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIntersections Should Not Be Rainbows
Black-and-white clarity -- not culture war graffiti -- is what a crosswalk demands
By John M. Grondelski | September 4th 2025 11:35 AMA recent tempest in the social-media teapot concerns intersections. Not the kind that over-credentialed academics spin dissertations about in the name of “critical racial theory,” but the literal ones you walk across: crosswalks. Some jurisdictions decided to “celebrate Pride” by painting pedestrian crossings in rainbow colors. The Trump Transportation Department…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHow Many Murders Make an 'Emergency'?
Real love for the poor is ensuring their neighborhoods are safe, not a murder every 46 hours
By John M. Grondelski | August 18th 2025 11:33 AMThe danger with a status quo is that it “normalizes” the prevailing situation. It makes one think the abnormal is somehow "normal." That’s particularly problematic when the status quo is the result of decades of “defining deviancy down,” as the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan observed over 30 years ago…
READ FULL BLOG POSTStreets Are Thoroughfares, Not Beds
A brief for Catholic realism on homelessness and public order
By John M. Grondelski | August 14th 2025 11:08 AMTwo days ago, alongside President Trump’s announcement to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C., which could include dismantling homeless encampments, I tweeted “streets are thoroughfares, not beds.” In my follow-up on this site, I also identified the local Catholic Church as a possible critic, especially if “law enforcement includes cleaning…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Catholic 'No' to Freebies
Policies of unlimited government handouts do not constitute a 'Christian' response
By John M. Grondelski | July 30th 2025 11:30 AMGovernors Kathy Hochul of New York and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania have announced they are providing free breakfasts to all kids in schools of those states because kids should not be in school with “empty bellies.” Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is introducing legislation to declare public transit free because…
READ FULL BLOG POSTNo Man Is an Island
Tens of thousands of Jeffrey Epstein wannabes put smut on the internet, and millions consume it
By Jason Morgan | July 21st 2025 10:26 AMNews sites and gossip boards are spilling over with talk about Jeffrey Epstein. The American government, one of the most morally debased institutions to ever exist, is busy denying what is obvious to almost everyone else. Epstein (1953-2019) was a human trafficker, sex abuser, blackmailer, and probably double or triple…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCatholics Need to Speak Out for Kids
We must not be complicit in political 'discourse' driven by emotions
By John M. Grondelski | June 19th 2025 11:29 AMThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 18 in United States v. Skrmetti that Tennessee’s ban on gender mutilation for minors is constitutional. In 2023, Tennessee adopted SB1, a law prohibiting gender surgery and use of puberty blockers/hormones on “gender dysphoric” minors. The usual suspects sought to block the law, and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIn Support of 'Standers'
Catholics supposedly oppose divorce, but do we really stand with abandoned spouses?
By John M. Grondelski | June 11th 2025 11:52 AMDo you know what a “stander” is? A “stander” is apparently the left-behind spouse after a divorce who, nevertheless, remains faithful to his or her marriage vows despite abandonment by the other party. I had never heard that term until I read Leila Miller’s great essay, “Six Uncomfortable Facts about…
READ FULL BLOG POST'Good' People
What would I become, in my pride, if there were only a swarm of yesses surrounding me?
By Jason Morgan | June 8th 2025 10:08 PMIn March of 2023, notorious transgender TikToker Dylan Mulvaney gushed to talk show host Drew Barrymore about the importance of surrounding oneself with good people. Barrymore clearly fit the description, in his view, because she spent much of the interview kneeling before him in worshipful adulation. Who would not want…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFr. Martin's Shell Game
He uses 'respect' to smuggle in not respect for persons but for actions and lifestyles
By John M. Grondelski | June 6th 2025 6:26 PMA “shell game” is a sleight-of-hand where, ostensibly, something is put under one of three shells that are then rapidly rotated, the player having to guess under which shell that thing is now located. This game is akin to the real-world confidence game named by the idiom “bait-and-switch.” Which brings…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThree American Catholics
JFK's 1960s solution to U.S. Church-state relations was deeply flawed and destructive
By John M. Grondelski | May 21st 2025 1:30 PMSocial media carried a photo of Pope Leo XIV in the papal office with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Do we realize how revolutionary that picture is? It’s not just that the Pope is American. It’s that the Vice President is a Catholic, as is…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #25
Historical Amnesia... The Dangers of the Abortion Pill... Confessional Confidentiality... and more
By John M. Grondelski | May 8th 2025 11:45 AMHistorical Amnesia May 8, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. Four score years ago, Allied troops entered Berlin and the Thousand Year Reich ended after 13 years. Last month marked the 250th anniversary of Lexington and Concord, the battles that began the American Revolution (after the "midnight ride…
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 POSTTheo-Economic Assumptions
Why do some think largesse, not thrift, is the only proper Catholic response?
By John M. Grondelski | April 4th 2025 2:07 PMWriting in the National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters criticizes the economic thinking of the Trump Administration, particularly the priorities of Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought (the article is linked below). This paragraph particularly caught me:
The marriage of fiscal austerity with Christian values strikes…
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