The Narthex
New Oxford Blog

A Catholic Wedding Is for More than the Couple
The Nuptial Blessing & the older 'Exhortation Before Marriage' describe the Church's vision
By James Thunder | August 7th 2025 7:17 PMWhen we celebrate a Catholic wedding, we do so for more than the couple marrying. We do so for all those present. The same is true for baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. How many of the people present to witness a Catholic marriage are not Christian, are Christian…
READ FULL BLOG POSTColleges Won't Let DEI Go
Which is why the Trump Administration needs scholastic data
By John M. Grondelski | August 6th 2025 12:45 PMAs part of their settlements with the Trump Administration, Columbia and Brown Universities have agreed to provide applicants' grade point averages and standardized test scores. The New York Times is appalled (link below). I am not. Large swaths of American higher education refuse to let DEI -- diversity, equity, and…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe End-of-Life Debate in Italy
After 'adult Catholics' and 'pro-choice Catholics' we now have 'Catholics of the lesser evil'
By Sabino Paciolla | August 4th 2025 8:46 PMItaly once had so-called “adult Catholics,” a term coined to describe a more liberal approach by some Catholics to ethical and social issues like abortion, aimed at distinguishing themselves from the "rigid" line of the Catholic Church. The expression "adult Catholics" was used by then-Prime Minister Romano Prodi in 2006,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWealth Management and Time Management
The one thing God rations is time. Use of our limited time makes or breaks our eternity
By John M. Grondelski | August 4th 2025 11:29 AMAt first glance, this past Sunday’s readings seem to focus on wealth and goods in the context of memento mori. The farmer blessed with a bountiful harvest gathers his grain into his newly-built and expanded barns, convinced he has ensured his long-term security. But his “security,” i.e., his life, does…
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 POSTIntellectual Engagement
There must be a place where we can talk seriously about the most serious of things
By James Hanink | July 29th 2025 12:04 PM“Everyone has their own religion.” So said my mother, a thoroughly Irish Catholic. What was I to make of it? (My father, whose piety was more wintry, kept his own counsel.) Looking back, I suspect what my mother had in mind was that different people have different spiritualities. Nonetheless, given…
READ FULL BLOG POSTLiturgics & Vesting Prayers
Post-1969 there are no 'revised' vesting prayers. Indeed, there are no prayers at all
By John M. Grondelski | July 28th 2025 11:41 AMThe July-August NOR features my article "Two Immediate Threats to Contemporary Liturgics." In it, my thesis is that three disciplines employed in the methodology of modern liturgical studies are not in proper relationship: there is a limited perspective on history, an overwrought but selective focus on canon law, and too…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDog Parks
The infrastructure of some cities is family-unfriendly. Catering to canines is the new trend
By John M. Grondelski | July 25th 2025 5:58 PMA little over a year ago, I walked up Capitol Hill one morning behind two female staffers. Most staffers are very young -- generally twenty-somethings -- because they're either college/grad school interns or just graduated. The two young women were sharing one's excitement about moving into an apartment in DC.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTSatanic Family Values
U.S. 'conservatism' has been a sick joke for a long time now
By Jason Morgan | July 24th 2025 12:33 PMJohn Michael Osbourne died in England a few days ago. According to a family statement as reported by Fox News, Osbourne died with his family by his side, “surrounded by love.” The world knew Osbourne not as John Michael but as Ozzy. For decades Ozzy Osbourne was the frontman of…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Scopes Trial as an Anthropological Question
Both parties in the famed 1925 trial were using the case to push flawed concepts of man
By John M. Grondelski | July 23rd 2025 11:31 AMThe trial of John Scopes, the Tennessee teacher who taught evolution despite a state law banning it, ended in his conviction a century ago this week. Many who comment on the case cast it as a conflict between “science” and “religion.” Those elements were present. I prefer, however, to cast…
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 POSTRandom Ruminations #27
Parishes & Commandments of the Church... Adapting Just War Principles... Name-calling... more
By John M. Grondelski | July 17th 2025 5:55 PMParishes & Commandments of the Church Archbishop Edward Weisenberger of Detroit has supposedly told priests to remind Catholics attending Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at one of the four non-parish venues in the Archdiocese where the TLM will at least occasionally be available that those attendees are nevertheless members of some…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPursuing a Pet Peeve
How about the weaselly abuse of 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate'?
By James Hanink | July 16th 2025 12:02 PMWhat to do with a pet peeve? “Own” it. It’s a peeve, and no more. Take care not to become peevish. On rare occasion, however, a peeve merits pursuit and, once pinned down, even theological examination. Here’s a candidate: the weaselly abuse of “appropriate” and “inappropriate” and “appropriately” and “inappropriately.”…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Church's Lack of Closure
Shall we amend Scripture to: "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and... we’ll get back to you"?
By John M. Grondelski | July 15th 2025 11:37 AMTwo weeks ago I wrote in this space about an unknown British politician claiming his 15 minutes of undeserved fame. Chris Coughlan decided to publicize his offense to the world because his priest publicized at his small parish that Coughlan should not receive Communion. Coughlan was among the small wedge…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTeaching a 'Lesson'
War imparts another lesson than the one intended: to hate more and thirst harder for revenge
By Jason Morgan | July 14th 2025 11:28 AMState violence is often framed by its authors as education. Time and again we witness presidents, prime ministers, junta bosses, and lesser leaders of nominally government bodies take to the airwaves to announce that a bombing, an invasion, or an assassination is meant to be “a lesson” to the enemy…
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