The Narthex

Is ours the best of all possible worlds? The philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) thought so, and it’s a positive thought, isn’t it? But how could we know whether his claim is true? Can we even specify what would make it so? (Politicians, to be sure, often boast…

American political mythology often introduces the Founders as secular craftsmen who constructed a democratic republic through sheer Enlightenment grit. Yet any careful reading of their correspondence reveals that these men never imagined a public order severed from divine authority. They lived in a world where appeals to Heaven were considered…

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of "Common Sense," a slender pamphlet whose physical modesty concealed a civilizational provocation. On a winter day in 1776, an obscure British immigrant named Thomas Paine released a text that redirected the political trajectory of an entire people. Within three months,…

I concluded Part 2 with a description of the nine languages in which Pope St. John Paul II was fluent. Here, I begin with a description of the languages in which he communicated although he was not fluent in them. I will conclude this series with lessons for priests and…

We are constantly flooded with stimuli -- so much so that we often fail to notice when seemingly unrelated developments share a common logic. Consider two recent pieces in The New York Times. In one, Oren Cass criticizes what he calls “financialization”: an economy increasingly devoted not to producing goods…

It began for us in a garden, the Garden of Eden. But it was there, through our first parents, that we fell. Try as we might, we cannot go back to that idyll. Still, when the news turns to noise, when the pundits become ponderous, I head for my wife’s…

The Church’s weekday readings are making their way through the glory days of kingship in Israel, the reigns of David and Solomon. (That is to contrast them with the less-than-glorious rulers, subsequent to the division of Israel and Judah.) On Saturday, the First Reading featured Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, wisdom…

In Part 1, I noted the languages Our Lord spoke and detailed how Pope St. John Paul II communicated in styles other than the usual discourse. In this Part, I detail how John Paul communicated in a manner appropriate to his audiences and in the native tongues of the people.…

In verses ten through twelve of Isaiah chapter 58, the Lord speaks through the prophet:

And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord…

The Jewish website Mosaic carried Adam Eilath’s interesting article “Jews Must Resist Becoming a People of the Screen.” The author reflects on traditional Jewish religious education. It’s not by accident that Jews (and later Christians) were called “people of the Book,” because of the centrality of Scripture to their faith.…

Vatican II’s document on Divine Revelation teaches us that “the invisible God (see Col. 1;15, 1 Tim. 1:17) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11; John 15:14-15) and lives among them (see Bar. 3:38), so that He may invite and take them…

Amazon has produced a docudrama on the First Lady, Melania. You might love it or hate it (or, like me, haven't seen it) but promotion of an incumbent First Lady is not uncommon. If you doubt it, ask how many times Vogue featured Jill Biden on its front cover --…

In Part 1 (linked below) I discussed Pope Leo's plans to continue to live in community as pope, St. Augustine's description of friendship, short biographies of two friends with whom he did not live in community, and the communities of Cassiciacum, where he prepared for baptism, and Thagaste, his hometown…

Professor Benedetto Rocchi, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Business Science at the University of Florence and president of the permanent observatory on abortion, expressed his astonishment about the fight against assisted suicide in Italy in an article published in La Verità on September 7, 2025. He asked,…

“Sharper than any two-edged sword” is how St. Paul characterizes God’s Word (Hebrews 4:12). If we are to show Scripture the reverence it is due, we must read it with sober care. In addressing the question of the authority of the State, Paul gives us a text that demands our…