My wife and I were blessed to be able to attend the World Meeting of Families conference back in 2015. The wonderful Professor Helen Alvaré gave one of the keynote talks during that week that stuck with me. Professor Alvaré was talking about how the love we give and receive within the family grows and… Read More Families as Schools of Solidarity
For a brief, fleeting moment, the Democrats looked as if they were about to do something very, very smart. Tom Perez, Democratic Party Chairman, along with Bernie Sanders, endorsed Heath Mello, a pro-life Democrat, for mayor of Omaha. Sanders, despite having one of the most consistently pro-choice records of anyone in Congress, defended this move,… Read More Leading Democrats Clash Over Creating an Abortion Litmus Test
Though I’ve been trained by the Jesuits in discernment and have made a few major decisions in my life so far, I still find decision-making very hard, primarily because there’s rarely full clarity. At a retreat I led for high school seniors, I gave a talk about my own discernment into and out of religious… Read More But What is God’s Will?
Overall, Syrian democracy activists were ecstatic about President Donald Trump’s strikes on the base from which the Syrian regime launched its latest chemical attacks. After years of impunity, the Assad regime paid a price (however tiny) for their crimes against humanity. Western proponents of the responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine, the enforcement of international law… Read More Critical Questions Remain Over Trump’s Missile Strikes and Syria Policy
The phrase “social justice” tends to trigger a wide range of responses depending on where one lands on the political spectrum. For some, it’s a pejorative. For others, a badge of honor. Either way, from a secular perspective, social justice is often viewed through the prism of partisan politics. But for Catholics, it’s something much… Read More Stop the Excuses: Working for Social Justice is Not Optional for Catholics
This post began as a “top 5 shockingly immoral aspects of President Trump’s budget proposal.” The problem is that virtually the entire budget is shockingly immoral and unjust. Instead, I want to highlight 5 touchstones of Catholic Social Teaching on justice. I will provide one example of its violation; however, for every single one, you… Read More How Trump’s “America First” Budget Violates 5 Key Justice Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
For the better part of a decade, the healthcare debate has been at the center of American political discourse—thanks largely to the signing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In both the 2012 and 2016 presidential races, the debate on whether to repeal or expand the ACA was a major component of each candidate’s platform—leading… Read More The Right To Healthcare Is Owed, Not Earned
Millennial 