“Rend your hearts, not your garments!” These are the challenging words of the prophet Joel that greeted Christians in churches around the world as they marked the beginning of Lent with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. Lent—too domesticated over time—is a radical ancient invitation to reject the globalization of superficiality that too often sullies our… Read More Rend Your Hearts, Not Your Garments
At the beginning of each semester, I introduce my students to modern Catholic social teaching by emphasizing its dialogue with a changing world. We often start with Rerum Novarum, which was a moral reflection and response to a particular historical context in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of new working conditions.… Read More See, Judge, Act: Racism, Structural Sin, and Infant Mortality
Former presidents often avoid criticizing their successors in office, but George W. Bush has broken from that trend this week. In response to a question about Donald Trump referring to the mainstream media as the enemy of the American people, Bush defended the media’s key role as a democratic check on power: I consider the… Read More George W. Bush Breaks from Tradition, Challenges Trump on Media, Russian Interference, Islam
via Chicago Tribune: Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich told priests Tuesday that if federal immigration authorities knock on the doors of their parishes without a warrant, priests should turn them away and call the archdiocese’s lawyers. Catholic school principals have been told to do the same. “If they do not have a warrant and it is… Read More Cardinal Cupich: No Immigration Agents on Church Property Without Warrants
On Fox News yesterday, I said that President Donald Trump should give up his wall and refugee ban for Lent. To do so as Lent begins, when Christians begin the commemoration of Jesus’ entry into the fullness of human suffering and dysfunction, would be a visible sign that the President honors those who—like Jesus Christ… Read More Donald Trump Should Give up His Wall and Refugee Ban for Lent
My wife and I are one month away from being homeless…at least we thought we might be until yesterday. We are currently in the process of buying a house, and everything was moving along smoothly until the inspector discovered an abandoned oil tank under the driveway. If it turned out that the tank had leaks,… Read More We Are All Refugees…Some of Us Just Don’t Know It
Millennial writer Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig has a new review of Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option in Democracy: Christians who engage in politics have reason to engage beyond their own interests; politics can’t save one’s soul, but it can decree that children receive health care, or that poor families be able to purchase food, or that… Read More Withdrawing from Politics is Not the Right Option for Christians
Millennial 