The Narthex

In the wake of California Senator Dianne Feinstein's burial, op-ed writers have been scribbling away on why America’s leadership class is so dominated by octogenarians (with a few septuagenarians as junior officers). Writing in The New York Times (Oct. 8), David French picked up Ross Douthat’s most recent hobby horse:…

Columbus Day is one of the next focal points in the revisionist effort to rewrite American history to highlight what "woke" activists consider its irredeemably evil roots. Far from “discovering” America, they'll say, Christopher Columbus was a “conqueror” who brought colonization, exploitation, disease, death, and a trail of tears to…

It’s the beginning of September, which means schools have either already started or will soon start new academic years. Most colleges and universities are back in session. So, like most Labor Day weekends with absolutely no immediately biting crises on the news cycle, editors filled space with “school stories.” The…

I recently applauded Worcester Bishop Robert McManus’s newly promulgated policy requiring Catholic schools in the diocese to use a child’s legal name, not a gender-ideology driven substitute, when addressing a child (and not just in official documents). The policy even goes further in establishing one’s given name identity: if, after…

Treasures and Pearls Last Sunday's Gospel wrapped up three weeks of Matthew 13, the chapter replete with various parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. It's only natural, therefore, that most preaching focused on the Kingdom as the buried treasure or the pearl of great price. So when my pastor, Fr.…

Eyes (and Minds) Voting with Feet Most mornings I have a 20 minute wait at my bus stop. The shelter has one of those electronic ad boards, so I get to see a limited loop of what advertisers want to sell. It’s often a telling commentary on the world today,…

Once upon a time, people distinguished between morals and manners. One shouldn’t offend either, but violating the former is a lot more serious than infringing on the latter. People instinctively recognize sleeping with your neighbor’s wife is in a qualitatively different ethical league than eating your main course with a…

Once upon a time, not too long ago, June used to be associated with marriage. People spoke of “June weddings.” But while Stevie Wonder might have just been calling to say “I love you,” there was something prescient in his lyric about “no wedding Saturday within the month of June.”…

My 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…

Make way for the memes! How many have you seen today? In an election season, they’re more plentiful than autumn leaves. Just what are they and where are they from? Are they friend or foe? Broadly considered, a meme is an idea or behavior that is widely imitated; it spreads…

Over the past few years, a number of academic brouhahas has drawn me into checking what professors tweet. Almost all of it is ugly. Within two or three tweets the online exchanges between Professor A and Professor B, or between Professor A and Concerned Citizen B, have devolved into wild…

Men and women are not biologically equal in function and physique. But the extreme liberal camp has promoted that baseless notion, insisting the sexes are interchangeable. Women are not physiologically built like men, as the task of raising the young requires specific biological and…

A few weeks ago I was completing the online registration forms for our local Little League. I grabbed my laptop, had my calendar, insurance information, doctor’s address, and a cup of coffee. Despite my preparation, I didn’t get far before being totally shocked. They wanted my child’s name, date…

Houdini was the master of illusion in the 1920s. Like today’s David Copperfield -- the highest paid solo performer in history -- Houdini mystified rapt audiences with incredible death-defying acts. As a youth he worked his card tricks and vanishing acts in dime circuses. After training as a locksmith he…

Loose lips sink ships! When Nazi submarines preyed on Atlantic convoys, security measures took on new urgency. Gossip could lead to disaster. Today loose language, though not an impending disaster, is a debilitating phenomenon. I suggest that we “call it out.” When it comes to monitoring language, there is an…