The Narthex
New Oxford Blog

One Thousand Posts
The NOR blog has published 1,000 posts in its six and a half years
By Barbara Rose | May 20th 2025 12:34 PMThis blog, NOR’s “Narthex,” has just featured its one thousandth post. As we celebrate this milestone -- 1,000 posts in only six and a half years! -- we remind readers that blog posts treat topics currently in the news and offer explainers of unexplored ideas behind the news. So, what’s…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Peace of Order
The tranquility of order is a defining feature of Augustinian spirituality, Pope Leo's thought
By John M. Grondelski | May 19th 2025 6:30 PMYesterday Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass to formally inaugurate his Petrine ministry, which began May 8. Cardinals of various theological and ideological preferences in many ways seem to have coalesced around the election of Robert Prevost at least in part because his "record" is more his priestly and episcopal service…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Deeper Unity
Augustine writes, 'Although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one'
By James Hanink | May 19th 2025 11:06 AMIn the leadup to the recent conclave, certain voices, amplified by the New York Times, advised us to beware of those seeking “unity.” Even though the goal seemed legitimate, it was a rhetorical device of those who wanted to roll back the initiatives of Pope Francis. Now comes Pope Leo…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHow We Became Transgender
Does an attempt at changing one's sex come from a wound cut deep in childhood?
By Jason Morgan | May 16th 2025 4:11 PMThe Supreme Court in the United Kingdom recently ruled that the legal definition of a woman is someone who is biologically female. In the United States, a return to sanity from the madhouse of transgenderism is apparent in our Supreme Court’s recent ruling that people who believe they were born…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPapal Reforms & Judicial Nominees
Conclave Reforms... Bring Back the Devil’s Advocate... Judicial Paternity... and more
By John M. Grondelski | May 16th 2025 2:24 AMThe New York Times reported (May 11) that, being his first conclave, the future Leo XIV approached Cardinal Luis Tagle for advice because the Filipino had previously participated in one. After Prevost’s election, Tagle supposedly told him: “If there’s anything you want to change about the conclave rules — it’s…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMarriage Music
An idea: a prize for new music that promotes marriage, including forgiveness and reconciliation
By James Thunder | May 15th 2025 9:28 PMIn 2018 the American Spectator published an essay of mine which included a list of 185 songs I had identified as music that promotes marriage, not just enduring love but also forgiveness and reconciliation within marriage (the list is linked at the bottom of this post). Like most of us,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe State of Motherhood
The oxymoronic logic of murderous motherhood has taken cultural root
By John M. Grondelski | May 12th 2025 12:00 PMMother’s Day should be one of those celebrations that elicits only happy feelings: you know, “motherhood, baseball, and apple pie.” But the reality is we need to think a little more deeply about the state of motherhood in the developed world. I’ve regularly written about the parcelization of motherhood. Modern…
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 POSTThe Conclave and the Reception of Vatican II
Will 'synodality' be a permanent structure to question settled doctrine, morality, and discipline?
By John M. Grondelski | May 7th 2025 11:46 AMThe Church faces a pivotal moment as the papal conclave begins -- a moment that sets course for how we continue to receive the Second Vatican Council. Let me say up front that I take reception of the Council as a necessary fact for a Catholic. It is part of the…
READ FULL BLOG POSTAhead of the Conclave
What I Want and Don't Want in a Pope... The Interregnum... Future Reforms... and more
By John M. Grondelski | May 6th 2025 3:21 AMWhat I Want in a Pope The Catholic press and blogosphere is filled with writers pontificating on what they want in a new pontiff. Coupled with the musings of conclave observers and (pseudo) whisperers, one often hears about “a man of the Gospel,” “a man of God,” “a man of…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIn the IVF Era, Is Age Just a 'State of Mind'?
IVF doesn't just separate the human from reproduction. It separates the human from time
By John M. Grondelski | May 5th 2025 11:08 AMThere has been an active campaign to promote a positive image for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Pro-abortionists (i.e., Congressional Democrats) have glommed on to the issue as part of a “reproductive rights” agenda, whose real intention is to advance abortion. Since unrestricted abortion for any reason whatsoever still encounters resistance,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Kingdom of Heaven Is Like… a Graduation Day
On a dream of rapturous cheering and glory that energizes me to this day
By James Thunder | May 2nd 2025 11:32 AMHigh school and college graduation days are coming up, so I thought I’d share this dream which I remember like it was yesterday. On two occasions a couple years on either side of the year 2000, I attended graduations at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. I watched these events…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIs Thomas's Doubt Bad?
We sometimes jump to conclusions about others’ motivations
By John M. Grondelski | April 30th 2025 11:17 AMThe Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter (Jn 20:19-31) incorporates two appearances by Jesus to His Apostles. His first, on Easter Sunday evening, is the institution of the sacrament of Penance, entrusting the ministry of forgiveness to His Apostles. The second, a week later, is when he confronts “doubting…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Immensity of God
God is everywhere, simultaneously. And He is wholly God everywhere
By James Hanink | April 29th 2025 10:40 AM“Awesome!” So say the young, and so often that the adults in the room join in. I like to add, “Totally,” which sometimes elicits a smile. Rarely if ever, though, are we really in awe of the supposedly awesome. But, truth be told, we rarely take to be a wonder…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMahmoud, Pierce, and Parental Primacy
On mandatory curricula, ideological indoctrination, and abridging religious free exercise
By John M. Grondelski | April 28th 2025 11:20 AMThe U.S. Supreme Court April 22 heard oral arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor. The case comes from just down the road from the Court -- Montgomery County, Maryland -- where the local school board has imposed a family life curriculum throughout elementary and secondary (even pre-) schools. The curriculum is…
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