The Narthex

My vegetable garden is a 4 x 10 planter box with gopher-proof screening and a weed-banning cloth. Its soil is enriched with root enzymes and minerals, wriggly worms, and rich humus. I nearly broke my back constructing it, but it was worth the anguish. I’ve got international participation from healthy,…

In the March 1 installment of our “Daily News” feed, we linked to an article on the website of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (which is Australia's state-owned and funded national public radio and TV-broadcaster) by Fr. James Alison called “Welcome to my world: Notes on the reception of Frédéric Martel's…

My dad used to say whenever motives got confusing, "Follow the money trail." The contemporary Church hierarchy now has one thing on its mind and one only: money. If prejudice is the essence of evil, then this hierarchy is evil in its prejudice for cushy retirements, luxury lifestyles, glorious cathedrals,…

The other day I had a chance, via Skype, to have a conversation about what people really want. The conversation was with some friends from the American Solidarity Party and a young socialist working on his Ph.D. If one “average” question leads to another, our question—what do people really want?—led…

Yesterday in the public library I had a challenging conversation with a Protestant evangelical friend who holds the firm belief that the Bible is all she needs to live a holy life (Sola Scriptura). Her private interpretations of Scripture are the result of inward counsel and the Sunday preaching of…

Mother had a collection of vinyl records that I would listen to on a cold wintry day. Some of her vinyl had the interesting RCA Victor trademark label of a Jack Russell Terrier listening to an Edison bell-cylinder wind-up gramophone. The caption underneath read “His Master’s Voice,” with the cute…

No man is an island, nor can any country stand alone. If as “outsiders” we are to be of any help in overcoming Venezuela’s tragedy, we have some hard thinking to do. And since we are human beings, what and how we think is intertwined with our emotions and imagination.…

When Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in the 1830s, one of the things he found remarkable was the incredibly high rate of literacy among the citizenry.  But what was more remarkable to him was that, despite the high literacy rate, freedom of thought was practically non-existent.  He blamed this on…

After facilitating a Tuesday senior writing group in the San Marcos County Library, I attended a chess club session held in the same conference room. Four game boards were set up on card tables and eight competitors were playing chess across from each other. At the far end a young…

Given the news cycle, the document Human Fraternity—issued by Pope Francis and Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar—has used up its 15 minutes of fame. But let’s ignore that secular cycle. The Grand Imam speaks on behalf of a major Muslim center of learning. Pope Francis needs no introduction.…

Our local senior center holds a well-attended bingo game once a week. “B-10,” a moderator announces by microphone, and a hundred heads nod to scan their cards. It’s a good money maker for city services while providing a needed social event. Our local parish does the same to provide funding…

NOR readers who follow our daily news links are no doubt up-to-the-minute on the clerical sex abuse crisis. But for anyone who needs a one-article summary of said crisis, I recommend Emma Green’s “Why Does the Catholic Church Keep Failing on Sexual Abuse?” in The Atlantic (Feb. 14). Besides a…

Former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Gerhard Cardinal Müller issued a "Manifesto of Faith" last week.  Many within the Church hailed the document as both necessary and timely.  Others responded less positively, attacking his manifesto as animated by a spirit of division and comparing him…

Dysfunction is the order of day, and at every level. Each of us, I’ll wager, wants to tell someone  “get your act together.” Plenty of people think that I need to hear the same message. And someone, no doubt, thinks that you, gentle reader, need to as well. Of course,…

Recently someone asked me, “what would be the first thing you would do if you were suddenly elected Pope?”  Although it was only a thought experiment, coming up with a single, first act was difficult.  The weight of spiritually fathering billions of people must be both daunting and crushing.  Ultimately…