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All Catholic commentary from April 2025
Is Catholic Charities really Catholic? (Don’t ask the Supreme Court)
The state of Wisconsin found that the activities of the Catholic Charities Bureau are indistinguishable from those of any other secular charity. Is that true? The Supreme Court seemed disinclined to examine that question. Catholic donors might think differently.
Why young Catholics are rejecting feminism, Pt. 2: The magisterium
Catholic feminists are seldom willing to engage seriously with the full scope of Church teaching on their favorite issues, like authority in marriage and mothers working outside the home. Instead, they quote the same snippets of St. John Paul II, but do not read him carefully in continuity with prior popes. Thus they inevitably feel frustrated that young tradition-seeking Catholics aren’t getting with the feminist program.
Living in the end times does not give us a pass
For me the issue is to find more effective ways of evangelizing among Christians no longer used to evangelizing. Moreover, we must also understand that—while we should certainly engage in evangelization—some periods and places do seem to be largely impervious to the Gospel until there have been a good many martyrs. As Tertullian put it about 1800 years ago, the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. Our Lord put this another way: “For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’”
A word to the anti-Trump protesters and their media enablers
Whatever assumption of good faith might have been extended to your arguments against this or that Trump policy, there is going to be a heck of a lot less of it this time around.
Groupthink Follies
We find groupthink throughout the Scriptures. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of unnatural and malignant groupthink. Groupthink during the Exodus rebelled against Moses and the Lord.
USCCB to Trump: You can’t fire me; I quit
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the USCCB president, said that the decision to end these programs was “heartbreaking.” But the bishops really didn’t have to make a choice at all; the decision had been made for them.
Crucifixion darkness: Barabbas (1961)
Barabbas, a unique specimen of the midcentury Hollywood Biblical epic, stars Anthony Quinn as the criminal released by Pilate in place of Christ. It follows Barabbas through a long life in the shadow of the Cross, haunted and struggling to comprehend the meaning of having had his life exchanged for Christ’s. He becomes almost an archetype of human resistance to grace—but in the end, does he nonetheless surrender himself to what he doesn’t understand?
Easter volume released: Free ebook
The Easter volume of our ebook series for this liturgical year has been released in our ebooks download area. This fourth volume in the annual series covers the entire Easter season, from the Easter Vigil through Pentecost. It may be downloaded free of charge in the following formats: .mobi (Kindle), .epub (Nook and other standard ereaders), and .pdf (most computer devices).
5.8 St. Anselm of Canterbury: Doctor of the Atonement
St. Anselm (1033 - 1109 AD) was Abbot of the monastery of Bec, and later, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the first of the medieval scholastics, and the first real systematic theologian. In many ways, St. Anselm is the bridge between St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Rule of St. Benedict—Ep. 1 | Foundations of Monastic Life
"And so we are going to establish a school for the service of the Lord. In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But if a certain strictness results… do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation, whose entrance cannot but be narrow."
194—The Church’s Hour of Testing—Fr. Donald Haggerty
A great spiritual master of our time, Fr. Donald Haggerty, joins the podcast to discuss his important new book, The Hour of Testing: Spiritual Depth and Insight in a Time of Ecclesial Uncertainty. He offers profound reflections on the ongoing, and perhaps future, crisis within the Church, with an eye to arousing an appetite for the greater spiritual intensity God desires his faithful to live out in this time.
An economic interpretation of the Gospel
Matthew recounts incidents or images that do not appear in the other gospels. And that only make sense, he remarks, because the “ambitious tax collector—if he was familiar with Roman best practices of accounting, banking, and contracts—would be well placed to see the power of these economic analogies.”
The Pope as (im)patient
No doubt other Vatican officials would have argued against his surprise visit to St. Peter’s basilica, and at a minimum insisted that the Pontiff be dressed in his usual regalia. And no doubt the Pope knew that. So he made the excursion without consulting anyone; he took the whole Vatican by surprise.
Beware! The spiritual paradox of not being “everybody”
Whenever Church discipline from the next higher level has been lax, a great many Catholic leaders have made their livings preaching a reconditioned gospel with which the world can resoundingly agree. An even greater number of lay people have commended this practice, though it has never been a source of numerical growth—indeed, quite the opposite. There is great danger in trying to be like everybody else.
Why young Catholics are rejecting feminism, Pt. 3: The feminist echo chamber
Even in their “Catholic” forms, feminism and masculinism exacerbate division between the sexes. This can happen by outright hostility, but also more subtly, with the drifting apart of concerns and mutual defensiveness that result from prioritizing the advancement of one sex. As Ratzinger wrote, “The proper condition of the male-female relationship cannot be a kind of mistrustful and defensive opposition. Their relationship needs to be lived in peace and in the happiness of shared love.”
Breaking Habits of Self-Deification
Pilate’s skeptical and cynical remark echoes throughout history: “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:38) The question forms the crossroads of every human path.
The Eucharist: the ultimate reality
The Eucharistic Sacrifice, extended through time and space in the celebration of the Mass, completes Christ’s work of salvation, and thereby brings meaning to our lives. And when we neglect the historical reality of that Sacrifice, we immediately endanger our own understanding of human existence.
Entering the Paschal Triduum
How to follow the Paschal Triduum at home and church with traditions for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Includes liturgy, recipes, printables, paschal candle, eggs, lamb cake, foot washing.
Ghosts of the Chrism Mass
As the Mass unfolded, I gazed upon the young and old heads and remembered the many priests I saw when I was young, but who have gone away. They are ghosts.
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