As we ponder the significance of Osama bin Laden’s death, it is well to reflect that Islamists are not the cause of hostilities; they are but symptoms of a much greater cause. Individually killing them off—which is nice—is like a doctor temporarily treating a sick patient’s symptoms without eliminating the cause of sickness. Ayman al-Zawahiri, […]
Sunday is the Son’s Day. So I thought once-upon-a-time in my little girl reasoning. Jesus is the Son of God. He rose from the dead on a Sunday. Hence, Sunday is Son-day. Little did I know back then that my silly little play on words was not far from the truth. This ever-ancient-yet-ever new Catholic […]
They grace the cover of Time magazine this week, do Kate and William, with not one but two full-page spreads inside: of the coach ride after the wedding and of the Westminster Abbey recession. Days after the grand affair, the world still gawks and talks. Much of the talk is about what the newlyweds have […]
Since January this year, the world has been watching the Middle East with anticipation and hope. A cascading series of uprisings in the Arab world began in Tunisia with the overthrow of President Ben Ali. In one country after another, populist insurgents were pitted against autocratic dictators. Some – like Mubarak of Egypt, Gaddafi of […]
The liquidation of Osama bin Laden is a cause for full-throated national celebration. It must also be the occasion for a redirection of our efforts to wage and win what has been misnamed “the War on Terrorism.” At last, we must recognize the struggle we are in for what it is – the War for […]
No means No. Duh! you might be thinking. What else could it mean? Well, for some men “no” translates to mean, “yes”. And for law enforcement officials, “no” could mean a charge of rape. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This all begins with Shannon Deitz’s book, Exposed: Inexcusable Me, Irreplaceable Him. It is a […]
“Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It’s been an hour and fifteen minutes since my last confession,” Mike fearfully utters to the priest. Mike had confessed prior to the Mass he just attended, but during Mass remembered something he did not confess. This greatly troubled him because he knew it was a mortal sin. […]
Law enforcement scrutiny, detainment by police, and a court date to answer trumped-up charges: these are the consequences of preaching Christianity to Muslims not only throughout much of the Islamic world, but sometimes even in America as well. The most infamous example occurred last June, when four missionaries from Acts 17 Apologetics were arrested and […]
Some people collect coins, others scan the beach with metal detectors. I enjoy trolling footnotes at the back of a book for little gems of insight or historical anecdote. I was recently rewarded for this eccentricity while reading John D. Mueller’s new book, Redeeming Economics: Rediscovering the Missing Element recently published by ISI Books. Mueller, […]
“This case is not over,” said lead attorney Samuel B. Casey about Friday’s 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. that gave the green light for the destruction of human embryonic stem cells for research purposes. That action overturns an injunction put in place by a District Court judge last summer. […]
“In Bin Laden Announcement, Echoes of 2007 Obama Speech,” declared the headline in The New York Times. It’s difficult to find a newspaper that has demonstrated a worst pro-Obama and anti-Bush bias than The New York Times, especially when dealing with the War on Terror. And so, I expected a headline like this in the […]
Standing in the liminal space between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man, the true believer often finds himself wrought by two seemingly conflicting realities. On the one hand he knows he is the creation of the one true God, redeemed by the God-man Jesus who is the Christ, and sanctified by the […]
Virtues empower folks to reliably, freely, and happily engage in truly noble acts by which they become even more virtuous than they already are. Like a surgeon who has progressed into a surgical virtuoso — a fully flourishing surgical artist whose patients rightly trust with their lives and their limbs — clinicians of various stripes […]
The Gospels tell an incredible story. A virginal conception. Miraculous healings. Even people coming back from the dead. How are we to know that it’s not all just a fanciful fabrication? There is much evidence for the reliability of the Gospels, but here is one of the strongest bits of evidence I know. Think for […]
It already started, you know. The hoopla over Mother’s Day is well underway. In the next several days, the greeting card companies, florists, and chocolate manufacturers will do their best to make us feel like villains if we don’t get our mother something sweet and sentimental for “her” day. At least, of course, we’d better […]
“From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or […]
“I thirst.” In these, the shortest of the last seven words of Christ on the Cross, one sees evidence of the Lord’s physical suffering as His precious Body – beaten and bloodied for our transgressions – paradoxically approached death as He hung parched upon the Tree of Life. In order to grasp at the deeper […]
Did you know that prayer doesn’t mean having to stop everything and getting out a book, or having to come up with something formally well-rounded that makes sense? Did you know that prayer is as simple as talking to your next-door neighbor (not that anyone does that anymore) or a co-worker? Absolutely! For the most part off-the-cuff conversations with […]
Let’s not kid ourselves: The policy train in American government has largely been driven by powerful special interests. These enterprises invest enormous amounts of time and money in political campaigns in order to ensure that their agenda is advanced on Capitol Hill. Over the years, particular interests have become allied with particular parties, becoming entrenched […]
The U.S. Appeals Courts for Washington D.C. has given the green light for the destruction of human embryonic stem cells for research purposes. The action overturns an injunction placed by a federal judge, last August, who ruled such destruction violated Congressional spending laws, in place since the 1990’s. It was a 2-1 decision and a […]
The greatest fear now is… the weather. Because the weather reports on Friday afternoon in Rome say that there will be light rain Saturday night, and light rain showers on Sunday morning. And if there is rain, everything about this historic beatification, which is shutting down all auto traffic in the entire area around St. […]
Looking like the princess that she is, the lovely Catherine Middleton today became the wife of Prince William. It was a wedding that had the attention of people the world over. I watched the beautiful ceremony with my daughters this morning, enjoying the vestiges of Catholicism still quite boldly present, such as the occasional use […]
Presented in cooperation with Greg Schlueter and JP2Journey.com: The JP2 Generation Tells Its Story, remembering World Youth Day 2002 and the impact of Pope John II. Part Eight, Fr. Edward Lohse The final day of World Youth Day 2002 began, in a manner of speaking, without our really having noticed it. Midnight arrived, and Saturday […]
