The Narthex
St. Maximilian Kolbe: Some Lessons
The great saint was a pastor to the end
By John M. Grondelski | August 14th 2023 8:15 PMSeventy-two years ago today, St. Maximilian Kolbe was murdered by a poison injection at Auschwitz, after about two weeks in a starvation bunker. Most probably on August 15 -- the feast of she to whom he was devoted -- his emaciated body went up in smoke through Auschwitz's crematorium chimney.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLife in the Spirit, Life in the Flesh
A constant theme in salvation history
By John M. Grondelski | July 10th 2023 11:50 AM“You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.” -- Romans 8:9 Before we forget Sunday’s readings, some reflections on the Second. A reform and, arguably, achievement of Vatican II was an expanded Lectionary, including the…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHumility in Pride Month
Yes, we counter falsehoods with truth, and we should do so with humility
By James Hanink | June 7th 2023 11:24 AMThere are decent politicians, and one whom I admire just won a nomination which he merited. In accepting it, he said “I am humbled by this honor.” He wasn’t virtue signaling, so I don’t suspect him of “false humility.” Still, we’d be gobsmacked were he to say that he was…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFidelity and the Person
Social glue is important in three areas: marriage, local community, and national patriotism
By John M. Grondelski | June 5th 2023 8:41 PMPrinceton Professor Robert George has launched a new initiative that declares June “Fidelity Month” [see here]. He started the effort with a June 1 webinar, featuring a religiously diverse panel, discussing the importance of fidelity as social glue in three areas: marriage, local community, and national patriotism. George has…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMy Boys as Sign and Gift
The people at Misericordia reveal that God’s gifts to us are unlimited -- Part 3
By James Thunder | May 15th 2023 11:48 AMMy boys who live in the Village at Misericordia, in Chicago, are a sign to us all that not one of us has merited anything. How hard it is for us to accept the truth that we have not merited what we see every day and what we think (and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTShow Your Mirth!
Dare we even consider mirth as an essential part of evangelization?
By James Hanink | April 20th 2023 12:07 PMUp for a joke? Well, I am. My wife not so much. And my daughter not at all, at least when it’s my joke. First she frowns, and then she gives me the “stink eye.” Perhaps, gentle reader, you’d like a sample, the better to judge for yourself. Here’s one…
READ FULL BLOG POSTOn Not Hearing Back
A modest proposal on the phenomenon of letters sent but unanswered
By James Hanink | April 4th 2023 3:42 PM“Well, did you ever hear back”? You thought you’d ask her, since two weeks ago your spouse “fired off” a letter to a chap whose head isn’t on straight. Or maybe you ask the same of the secretary of a committee (a group graced by your presence). After all, you’d…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBarrier to Discipleship
The rich young man's wealth led him to decline Jesus’ invitation -- Part 2
By James Thunder | March 22nd 2023 1:36 PMIn my previous post I discussed one way Jesus' statement about the rich man may have overwhelmed His audience. There is a second way. Jesus did not say (in Matt. 19:24, Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25) how much property makes one so rich that he is like the camel. We all…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWho Are the Rich Who Are Like Camels? We Are
Jesus did not subscribe to the notion that the rich had been blessed by God -- Part 1
By James Thunder | March 17th 2023 4:35 PMIt is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:24). Our Lord delighted His listeners with His rhetoric. These days the word rhetoric is used pejoratively, or derisively, to refer to language lacking…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLent and Guilt
Guilt is the recognition that we have responsibilities and that other people matter
By David Daintree | February 15th 2023 3:28 PMI have a confession to make. For me and for many feeble Catholics like myself Lent nowadays is marked by little more than a cardboard money box on the kitchen windowsill and perhaps an intention to drink a little less wine and give up something nice like chocolate for six…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTwo Rules of Thumb to Avoid Sin
Wise words from a grade-school retreat master are worth passing forward
By James Thunder | November 21st 2022 1:11 PMBefore my class of one hundred graduated from grade school -- from Mary, Seat of Wisdom School in Park Ridge, Illinois, in 1964 -- we had a Day of Recollection at our church conducted by one of the priests who belonged to the Mission Band of the Archdiocese of Chicago.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTruth and Consequences
Honest dialogue and, indeed, human communication depend on objective truth
By James Hanink | September 26th 2022 2:51 PMI like “Ike,” as I’ll call him. He was a catalyst for the pre-synod “listening session” that my seminary friends of yesteryear recently held. For my part I only “listened in” on the session. Then I offered a critique here, in a blog post. Ike didn’t much like what he…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFirst Ironman of Hawaii - Part 1
Father Damien cleared many tests of human endurance, starting in 1863
By James Thunder | September 22nd 2022 2:22 PMOn October 6 and 8, the Ironman Triathlon will take place in Hawaii. In a contest that tests human endurance, the athletes, without taking breaks, will swim 2.4 miles in the open ocean, bike 112 miles, and run a marathon (26 miles). It has been held annually since 1978. I…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDeafening Alienation
In the social-media vortex, somehow all we're left with is our bared teeth
By Jason Morgan | September 10th 2022 2:18 PMOver 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…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Queen Ever Faithful
As a Christian woman, Elizabeth made a promise on her accession to serve her people
By David Daintree | September 9th 2022 11:50 AMFor many people throughout the whole world the Queen's death comes as a profound shock. Not unexpected, of course, after so long a reign, but cataclysmic in its emotional and social impact. Few people in her realms have lived their lives under the reign of any other sovereign. I am…
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