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The “Nones” and the Church: “Sometimes God matters so much they can’t stay in the structure.”

By |September 30th, 2022|Categories: Faith and Society|Tags: |

I’ve left the idea that “better catechesis” will end disaffiliation w/the church, or with Christianity in general. I have too many well-catechized pals who

A 5 Mile Queue for ERII: Bishops Missing a God-Given Cue

By |September 14th, 2022|Categories: Faith and Society|Tags: , , , |

We've seen nothing like this since the funeral of John Paul II, but in England, an uncountable crowd is queueing up and patiently waiting

Mary, Mother of the Church, Takes a Walk with Jesus

By |June 6th, 2022|Categories: Holy Eucharist, Jesus Christ, Mary|Tags: , |

Today is the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, instituted by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. Here is an excerpt of a short

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Healing the Children of Uvalde Will be the Work of a Lifetime

By |June 1st, 2022|Categories: Sacred Heart, Society|Tags: , |

The funerals are beginning. We are seeing gut-churning images of parents, siblings, playmates, a whole community in grief. We've gasped and cried our way

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“The Dragon and the Beast”: the Buffalo Shooter, Deep Fakes and Revelation

By |May 19th, 2022|Categories: Scripture, Society|Tags: , , |

I was nosing around through scripture last night and found myself looking at Revelation, a book that -- thanks to the promptings of a

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White Nationalism is Especially Egregious in Catholics

By |January 8th, 2021|Categories: Jesus Christ, Society|Tags: |

A friend of mine, a deeply faithful and kind man, and someone I'd call a true classical liberal, because he listens and then thinks

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St. Hildegard, Doctor of the Church, Embraced God’s Immensities

By |September 17th, 2020|Categories: Saints|Tags: , , , |

Lots of people don't realize that though she was beloved since her own time and popularly declared a saint, it wasn't until 2012, when

‘Bring your gift of Blackness to the Church…” Gloria Purvis is trying!

By |July 20th, 2020|Categories: Society|Tags: , , |

Over at the University of Notre Dame's Church Life Journal my old Patheos colleague Sam Rocha is featured interviewing EWTN's Gloria Purvis. It's a

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Ven. Pierre Toussaint, Born a Slave, Model of Charity, Pray for Us!

By |June 2nd, 2020|Categories: Saints|Tags: , , , |

The Archdiocese of New Orleans gives us gives us this lovely portrait of Venerable Pierre Toussaint, whose cause for sainthood has been languishing for

Draw a Line: Let’s Not Let Ideologies Interfere With Medical Research and Discussion

By |April 27th, 2020|Categories: Corona Virus, Medicine, Politics|Tags: , , , |

"These days, politics seems to dictate that if one party says, “The sky is blue,” the other party is obligated to reply, “No, it’s

2020: The Way of the Cross When You Are Physically or Emotionally Ill

By |April 10th, 2020|Categories: News|Tags: , , , |

The Way of the Cross is an ancient devotion of the Church which has been used for centuries to bring the believer into deeper

On Christmas night, the fury of hell saw the glory of heaven, and the earth shook

By |December 24th, 2019|Categories: Angels|Tags: , |

I wrote this short story for Christmas in 2013. Hope you will share with your family. Audible link below My little cousin and I

Who Wants to Kill…Will Kill, Who Wants to Forgive, Will Forgive

By |October 3rd, 2019|Categories: Society|Tags: , , , , |

I only just realized today that we have just passed the second anniversary of the shooting massacre in Las Vegas, a strange story --

“No one was saved”: Paul McCartney out-harshed Lennon’s Critique with 4 words

By |June 18th, 2019|Categories: Art and Music, Faith and Society|Tags: , , , , , |

Well, Happy Birthday to James Paul McCartney, who was born this day in 1942 and grew up to be one half of what became

Failure and Victory: Finding Personal Meaning in the Wreckage of Notre Dame

By |April 17th, 2019|Categories: Lent|Tags: , |

I write this just days after watching Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame become engulfed by flames and fearing that the most famous and treasured

Huffman/Loughlin college scandal: can we talk about our mania for credentials?

By |March 12th, 2019|Categories: Education|Tags: , , , |

The story of rich parents buying their children's way into the "best" schools is an opportunity to discuss how we value degrees over actual

Henneberger’s cri de coeur is a scorching rebuke to Catholic bishops

By |November 16th, 2018|Categories: Sex Abuse|Tags: , |

After the Vatican ordered US Bishops to refrain from voting on episcopal correctives to their failures on the sex abuse front (a February bishop's

C’mon, Catholic Laity, remember who you are. If you don’t know, LEARN!

By |September 20th, 2018|Categories: Sex Abuse, Vocations|Tags: , , |

A few friends have expressed surprise to me at some social media reactions to my latest piece at Word on Fire, in which I

Catholic Moral Authority: Smothered by the Seeping Smoke of Satan

By |September 19th, 2018|Categories: Clericalism, Sex Abuse|Tags: , , |

GUEST POST: Russell Shaw is the author of over twenty books touching on Catholicism, Politics and sometimes both at once. In this guest post,

Benedictines of Mary: Watch Some Old-School Monastic Rites, Livestreamed

By |September 8th, 2018|Categories: Vocations|Tags: , |

We all know the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, of Gower MO, those old-school Benedictine nuns who sing like angels (they have recorded

Will Cupich’s terrible answer help Francis to focus on sex abuse, coverups?

By |August 28th, 2018|Categories: Sex Abuse|Tags: , , |

So, earlier today I happened to see an interview with Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich with the headline, 'The Pope Has a Bigger Agenda': Cardinal

The Church’s “Summer of Shame” Promises a Fall of Shame. LOTH Helps.

By |August 26th, 2018|Categories: Sex Abuse|Tags: , , |

GUEST POST: Daria Sockey is the author of The Everyday Catholic's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours. (LOTH) She is also a frequent

Dear Cardinal DiNardo & USCCB: Do the Right Things, and We Will Have Your Backs

By |August 17th, 2018|Categories: Clericalism|Tags: , , |

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, President 3211 Fourth Street NE Washington DC 20017 202-541-3000 @USCCB Dear Cardinal DiNardo and US

Vatican: “The Pope is on the victim’s side.” Well, GOOD! But…

By |August 16th, 2018|Categories: Clericalism|Tags: , , |

Two days after the release of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report on the gut-wrenching abusive incidents by clergy, and subsequent cover-ups by the leadership,

How Can We #RebuildMyChurch? Cardinal Wuerl Accidentally Points the Way

By |August 15th, 2018|Categories: Clericalism|Tags: , , , |

While it might seem that way, I'm really not trying to pick exclusively on Cardinal Donald Wuerl at this blog, but things...keep...happening. Last night

With all due respect, Cardinal Wuerl, No. Bishops Investigating Bishops Won’t Do

By |August 6th, 2018|Categories: Clericalism|Tags: , , , |

This morning comes breaking news out of NCR, that Washington DC's Cardinal Donald Wuerl has proposed a "national panel" to investigate any serious allegation

Fulton Sheen, Laity and Catholic Leadership: If Called to Correct, Let us First Confess

By |August 2nd, 2018|Categories: Clericalism|Tags: , , , |

Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have

Time for McCarrick and the rest to answer to the laity and the priesthood

By |July 26th, 2018|Categories: Clericalism|Tags: , , , |

We often hear of how the laity, by virtue of our baptisms, have a share in the priesthood of the Church and the priesthood

Amid the farce of pre-fab fury and fake narratives, the reality of Kavanaugh

By |July 10th, 2018|Categories: Politics|Tags: , |

Well, it's been very interesting watching predictable Americans react in completely predictable manners as regards President Trump's latest SCOTUS choice, Brett Kavanaugh. Yes, reactions

Victory of Ocasio-Cortez may signal where Trump meets his Waterloo

By |June 27th, 2018|Categories: Politics|Tags: , , |

Last night a very bright political unknown named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez soundly defeated Joe Crowley, a 10-term member of Congress, in their New York primary

Suicide and Love’s Suffering: “Put religion on it” cannot be our only response

By |June 14th, 2018|Categories: Society|Tags: , , , |

?Within days of each other, Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain took their own lives, and the world responded as the world always does, by

‘The Loved One’: We could stand to read this wicked-smart satire once more

By |June 7th, 2018|Categories: Books|Tags: , |

Image: Alex Williams-cc My friend Russell Shaw has been sharing his thoughts on Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One, and I so like what he

Gay Wedding Cakes: SCOTUS goes 7-2 in favor of 1st Amendment with narrow instruction

By |June 4th, 2018|Categories: Society|Tags: , , |

The Supreme Court has handed down a 7-2 decision on the question of bakers and cakes and gay weddings, and Colorado's clear hostility toward

Vatican warns nuns: Use Social Media ‘With sobriety and discretion’

By |May 17th, 2018|Categories: Vocations|Tags: , , |

Image: Asolrac1-cc "The Vatican has released an instruction with new norms for contemplative orders of nuns. Nuns must use Facebook, Twitter and other social

Zuckerberg’s Folly: Facebook silencing hate will only serve a cheap illusion

By |April 12th, 2018|Categories: Society|Tags: , , |

So, there I was, watching as much as I could stand of the congressional questioning of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and mostly feeling completely

Apparently, Facebook is listening: What about the Confessional?

By |March 28th, 2018|Categories: Sacraments|Tags: , |

Image: Public Domain In his testimony before the British Parliament, Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christoper Wylie is testifying that Facebook has the ability to "listen in"

How one young woman’s suffering was redeemed through a single word and act

By |March 1st, 2018|Categories: International|Tags: , , |

Featured Image: Rannah Evetts, Founder and Director of St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, Uganda. St Francis de Sales School for the

God will tell Oprah to run, and Joy Behar will not call her mentally ill when he does

By |February 28th, 2018|Categories: Politics|Tags: , |

Image by Alan Light-cc A few weeks ago, Joy Behar a longstanding co-host of the morning gabfest "The View" made a typically lame "joke"

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If in all things you seek sexism and oppression, doubtless you will find it

By |February 22nd, 2018|Categories: Art and Music|Tags: , |

It was St. Teresa of Avila who said, "If in all things you seek Jesus, doubtless you will find him." After reading this piece

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