Several days ago, a jury of twelve people sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Reactions to the sentence have varied. As one would expect, some are satisfied, even relieved, by the jury’s decision. Liz Norden, whose sons Paul and J. P. both lost legs in the explosions,… Read More The Case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: On Preventing and Perpetuating Death
Robert Putnam, one of the country’s premier political scientists, recently sparked a debate over whether or not faith groups have been absent in the fight on poverty, saying: Historically, churches had been major, major movers on issues of social and political equality in America, but as I noted in [my 2010 book] “American Grace,” somewhat… Read More Churches Aren’t M.I.A., But Haven’t Done Enough for the Poor
For the many of us who have attended Catholic schools, we may wonder what makes a Catholic education different than a public one. As my wife and I have been re-watching episodes of The Wonder Years and Boston Public, there have been many moments we’ve paused and said, “In a Catholic school, a teacher would… Read More Shaping Men and Women for Others in Catholic Schools
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer often get lumped together as middle-school books, 19th-century young-adult novels. After all, the two books share a central cast of characters and concern themselves with the often miscreant adventures of pre-teen boys. Yet Huckleberry Finn is a much more serious book, and it has… Read More How to Think Like Huck Finn
Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy may at first glance strike many as a bureaucratic document of little interest to Christians around the world. Reading the text of Misericordiae Vultus, though, makes it clear that this document is anything but unimportant. Francis has given us a beautiful meditation on the… Read More Mercy is a Person: Reflections on the Papal Bull “Misericordiae Vultus”
This post by Nathaniel Romano, SJ is also featured on The Jesuit Post. Seinfeld, once the anchor of NBC’s “Must-See TV,” gave us many memorable characters, including the so-called “Soup Nazi.” A temperamental restaurateur sells soup that is praised far and wide. However, he is very particular about how his customers must behave. Only the worthy… Read More No SNAP for You!
Can the sexual revolution take credit for the recent expansion of same-sex marriage, as some on the right have suggested? Is it purely the product of moral libertarianism that seeks to liberalize all laws regarding sexual conduct? Are Catholics capitulating to (or even embracing) the legalization of sexual license? Will this lead to increased support… Read More Is the Push for Same-Sex Marriage Based on the Sexual Revolution and the Spread of Libertarianism?
Millennial 