The Narthex
Run Forth to Meet Christ
The Church's prayer invites us to rush forward 'with righteous deeds' to encounter the Lord
By John M. Grondelski | December 3rd 2024 12:01 PMThe Opening Prayer/Collect for Mass on the First Sunday of Advent abounds with powerful words: “resolve,” “run forth,” “righteous,” “worthy.” It reads: “Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDivine Eccentric
The mystery of sin and redemption defies commodification
By James Hanink | November 12th 2024 10:05 PMRumor has it that the annual Diocesan Priest Retreat features a lottery. The winner, and only the winner, is allowed to discuss his physical maladies. Such a limitation is not the case for late-septuagenarian bloggers. But I’ll not regale you, gentle reader, with physical maladies. Instead, I beg your indulgence…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLost Opportunity
The rich young man kept his wealth. But what opportunity cost did he pay?
By John M. Grondelski | October 18th 2024 2:18 PM"Opportunity cost” is the term economists use to define the forgone benefit that would have been derived from an option other than the one that was chosen. My choice of X over Y, for example, may be cheaper right now. But over the long run, due to hidden costs, inferior…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Final Quarter (and Not in Football)
Let's ask, with the proverb, whether we’ve grown a year older but none the wiser
By John M. Grondelski | September 30th 2024 9:23 PMOctober 1 marks the start of the fourth and final quarter of 2024. In 90 days, we will be celebrating New Year’s Day and making “resolutions.” It’s your last chance to consider what you did with last year’s resolutions. I’ve tried this year to flag the passage of the quarters…
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 POSTJust Do It!
Nike’s trademark is also good prayer advice
By John M. Grondelski | September 19th 2024 12:13 PMA commonplace excuse for why people do not pray is they “don’t have time.” Taken at face value, some might imagine it plausible but, honestly, probed a little harder, the excuse often collapses for the rationalization it is. September 19 is the anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance at La Salette…
READ FULL BLOG POSTVirginity in the Modern World
Do modern people understand, much less value, virginity?
By John M. Grondelski | August 12th 2024 12:45 PMVatican II talked about the Church in dialogue with the modern world. Some of us have wondered whether that dialogue has been largely one-sided, i.e., modernity talking and the Church listening. One hopes the dialogue also would proceed in the other direction, to a world largely convinced of its rightness…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPost-Communion Thanksgiving
After his work at the altar, the priest should sit and allow a period for silent thanksgiving
By John M. Grondelski | August 9th 2024 2:01 PMTomorrow is the Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr. St. Lawrence is probably best known popularly for being martyred alive on a gridiron and for his remark about being “well-done on this side, turn me over!” The jocularity tends to obscure just how barbaric a death Lawrence died during…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLo que será, será
We’re now at midyear -- a good time to review our resolutions and efforts
By John M. Grondelski | July 1st 2024 12:10 PMSix months ago, you were toasting the new year 2024. Six months from now, hopefully you will say goodbye to 2024 and welcome the new year 2025, the quarter century mark. We just celebrated Midsummer’s Night on June 21-22. We’re now at midyear. “Midsummer” you say? Wasn’t it just the…
READ FULL BLOG POSTGetting Spiritual Direction Right
It requires careful reflection by those who would learn from it
By James Hanink | June 28th 2024 2:45 PMWhat happens when you google “spiritual director near me”? You’ll instantly find an assortment of spiritualists and their handy contact information. Not what you are looking for? Better keep looking and look elsewhere. Take your time. A priest friend who is a spiritual director at a Benedictine Abbey says that…
READ FULL BLOG POSTImmanence Dominance
We need regularly to puncture our secular, flattened time to let God in
By John M. Grondelski | April 25th 2024 12:10 PMIn the wake of Vatican II, all sorts of Catholic practices and popular devotions were deconstructed. The process often occurred for simplistic and callow reasons, with no thought to why those practices and devotions had become so established or what would be lost -- including in terms of follow-on effects…
READ FULL BLOG POST91 Days Down, (Maybe) 275 to Go
A quarter of the year is done. What did we do with it?
By John M. Grondelski | April 2nd 2024 2:42 PMApril 1 has arrived, this year as Easter Monday. We’re in the Octave of Easter and approaching the great Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday. One thing many people won’t note, except perhaps accountants and economists, is that the first quarter of 2024 is now over. Yes, perhaps it’s hard to…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBeyond Apathy or Outrage
Putting everything in God’s hands, we see that He puts many things back into ours
By James Hanink | March 23rd 2024 7:57 PMWhen sorely pressed, my mother often said, “Let’s put it all in God’s hands.” Such was the path to peace. But of what sort? Friends of the indefatigable socialist Norman Thomas often commented that he never lost his capacity for outrage. But to what end? Of late, both Mom’s adage…
READ FULL BLOG POSTAsh Wednesday Welcomes
'Repent and believe the Gospel' is the Church’s message today, from her Master
By John M. Grondelski | February 14th 2024 12:48 PMThe Church offers two formulae as options to be used during imposition of ashes, the sign of penance. The older formula is “Remember, man, that you are dust and to dust you will return.” The newer one is actually not new at all, because it repeats the first public words…
READ FULL BLOG POSTSo, You Failed?
The problem is not failing but what we do about it
By John M. Grondelski | December 12th 2023 12:31 PMIdeas for essays are sometimes like grace: they come from the most unexpected places. Today’s comes from Facebook, in a post by Scott Hahn about failure. Hahn posted a passage from St. Josemaría Escrivà’s rich book of spiritual aphorisms, The Way. The excerpt (no. 405) deals specifically with failure. “So you…
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