Catholics have been accused of focusing on one issue for the election: abortion. Life, however, not only serves as the foundation of the common good, it also is completely interwoven with its other essential elements. Protecting life is bound up with justice as a whole and the securing of every Read more…
In a recent post, “I Believe in Me: Naming the New Ideology,” I focused on the ideology that surrounds us in modern media, education, and much of the culture. It works in iconoclastic fashion, breaking down traditional structures of family, religion, and government, leaving the individual supreme. We see it Read more…
In all of my teaching (in about 50 distinct classes), I’ve seen the greatest impact of any contemporary book from John Senior’s The Restoration of Christian Culture. One line in particular always stands out, causing shock and dismay in the students: “smash the television set!” “Isn’t that so extreme? How Read more…
We are clearly facing a revolution, a radical turning away from the past–both the American founding and from Western Civilization more broadly. A wave of iconoclasm sweeps away not simply statues but even institutions, including the most foundational: the family. What is arising to fill the void? It’s not clear, Read more…
If Christian culture is a way of life centered on faith, expressing it in daily life, then I am convinced that the home is the best place for Building Catholic Culture. It is in family life that we build up daily habits of prayer, work, leisure, and fun in a Read more…
“Do this in memory of me.” Jesus’ command at the Last Supper forms the basis of the Church’s liturgy, not simply remembrance of Jesus but a mystical union with the actions of Christ through word, ritual, and the movements of all the faithful. There is a drama latent within the Read more…
Medieval Lent was, to say the least, a lot harder. The season’s origins come from the early catechumenate, which led converts through a multi-day period of intense prayer and fasting before their initiation at the Easter vigil. Eventually, this time extended to forty days, in imitation of Christ’s fasting in Read more…
Wine, Romanesque architecture, and the monastic life, all reached their high point in the Middle Ages, tucked away in the province of Burgundy. You may not have heard of Cluny, but, from its humble founding in 910, it quickly constructed the largest church in Europe and built an independent network Read more…
The early Middle Ages rightly can be called the Age of the Monks and the title fits in Ireland even more than anywhere else. Ancient Ireland did not have cities and, with its tribal organization, the monastery served as a central place of prayer, learning, and social organization. Over time, Read more…
We began our Beauty of Faith Pilgrimage to Ireland in Dublin, visiting its churches and its saints/saints in the making: St. Valentine-the Roman saint whose relics are at the Whitefriar Street church; St. John Henry Newman’s University Church where he delivered some of the discourses that became An Idea of Read more…