The Narthex

Pope Francis has on several occasions voiced support for an idea, percolating among the Vatican’s professional ecumenical and liturgical classes, to establish a “common” date for Easter between Catholics and Orthodox. The current driver seems to be wanting to “do something” to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council…

Let us first consider that Jesus was not always in the immediate presence of the people He cured, just like the prophet Elisha who directed Naaman to go to the River Jordan. Naaman was incensed with Elisha. “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and…

Up 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…

The Octave Day of Easter—the Sunday following Easter—has gone by several names, including Divine Mercy Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter. One of its oldest names is Dominica in albis, “Sunday in white,” because this was the day that those newly baptized at the Easter Vigil historically took off…

You get pretty used to the idea that Jesus worked miracles, don’t you? I do. For me, a fresh look was prompted when I noticed a detail from Matthew’s Gospel (15:29-31):

Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great…

George Herbert (1593-1633) wrote the following pretty lines in the shape of a pair of wings to signify our final aspiration to soar heavenwards in Christ's triumphant Easter train:

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store, Though foolishly he lost the same, Decaying more and more, Till…

The Tuesday after Easter, preparing to exit the Washington Metro at my usual stop, I waited for the car doors to open. My eye caught something red on the edge of the door, which extended downwards, even to a blotch on the floor. I’m not a biologist, but I think…

Several members of my family were initiated into the worldwide, secretive fraternal organization called Freemasonry, including my deceased father who became a Master of two lodges and rose to 33rd degree in the Scottish Rite. I recall him pacing our living room with a small code book reciting from memory…

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine issued a document in the last days before Easter, “On the Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains.” Its topic was what a Catholic should do with the postmortem remains of a human being. It's timely in this Easter period. The document was…

“Hell night” is what some New Jersey kids call October 30 because, from the 1950s forward, it became a “mischief night” wherein some people’s trees get draped with toilet paper or their windshields covered with shaving cream. Sometimes these pranks have degenerated into wanton acts of destruction. “Hell week” is…

“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…

The Dawson Centre’s call for Colloquium papers includes the following statement: “School children are taught to believe that girls can be boys, that boys can be girls, and that grown-ups should be punished for denying it.” Someone subsequently asked me for evidence that any “grown-up” is ever actually penalized for…

One-time NOR blogger Dominick Sansone makes an apt and educative historical comparison in a recent article ("Weak Interventionism," The American Conservative, March 28) about America's proxy war in Ukraine. He first dispenses with the oft-repeated “appeasement” comparison between interwar Germany and present-day Russia, which has been the kneejerk reaction of…

An 18-year-old woman named Layla Jane was in the news recently with a heartbreaking story. Ms. Jane is suing Kaiser Permanente and another medical institution for performing a double mastectomy on her at the age of 13. (Her story has been covered by several national news organizations.) There was nothing…

Words mean something. Sadly, their overuse leaves them captive to clichés. Thus captive, they can be enlisted in all manner of nonsense. Two examples come to mind: accompaniment and discernment. Note that both of them have become suspiciously “churchy.” Let’s start with accompaniment. Rightly used, it means “being with” another…