In a very short novel, Allen Mendenhall manages to combine a great deal of philosophical and quasi-theological reflection, Twain-like adolescent comedy, and Faulkner-like familial dysfunction, adding to the Southern literary tradition’s collection of tales filled with absurdity, hilarity, shattering revelation, and haunting desire, all mixed to disturb and delight. A Glooming Peace This Morning by [...]
Prudence takes into account a deeper wisdom about the human condition than can be gleaned from a simple cost-benefit analysis. It understands that human communities are not merely about justice and the Gross Domestic Product, but about love. And sacrificial love doesn’t hesitate to rush in even against the worst odds. Recently I sat at [...]
Today, on her feast day, it is good to remember that true Christian faith is not merely literary and not always beautiful. Its protagonists might possess, as Malcolm Muggeridge said of Mother Teresa, “homely features.” They may not be clever or gifted. But, if they are willing to do as God wants, they too can [...]
It is an intimate art, the translation business. But it is the art of creatures like we humans, who live always on the border of matter and spirit, trying to marry together the infinite and the finite, the spiritual and the earthly, the eternal and the temporal. On January 11, 1940, the Italian writer and [...]
All natural loves, even love of the land, must suffer death and burial in the raw world and the winter of this life. But Hilaire Belloc, who “received the sacrament of that wide and silent beauty” of his native Sussex at night, was confident that he would see it and his departed friends face to [...]
Inspired by a true story, Andy Fowler's "The Condemned" tells the tale of an American priest in a small, northern Mexican town beset by cartel violence. But running throughout all of it is the peace of God that may seem hidden and passes understanding, saving those who dare to turn away from the dark to [...]
This spring, two emeritus philosophers at the University of Notre Dame—Alasdair MacIntyre and David Solomon—died. No doubt the advocates of progressive “diversity” would say that these two were symptomatic of the lack of that magical quality. But what made for their diversity was a different set of gifts that enriched the University of Notre Dame, [...]
Though she was a far greater novelist than G.K. Chesterton, Sigrid Undset's apologetic essays were certainly Chestertonian. And she loved his work. The story is that she once slammed "The Everlasting Man" on an editor’s desk, declaiming: “This is the best book ever written. It has to be translated into Norwegian!” 2024 was a year [...]
Which print journals are still worth reading? Herein you will find my favorite ones, in alphabetical order. The scholar and researcher Stanley Kurtz once opined that one can really be a great reader in only one of three categories: books; journals and newspapers; or the internet. I’m not sure if it’s true, though it probably [...]
Why did I help organize a new men’s event? Well, the short answer is that it’s needed. Much contemporary Christian life is dominated by women, for good and for ill. One of the ill parts of this is that there is a certain feminized quality to many events that turns men off. Our catchy name [...]
In Episode 1 of "Jiao Tu’s Endeavour," Donald Jacob Uitvlugt sets his man-like beasts in a fascinating tale that hints at matters far deeper than the material. Jiao Tu’s Endeavour: Episode 1: The Kidnapped Mousling by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, foreword by Anthony Perconti (342 pages, independently published, 2022) All the world’s wiseacres in arms against [...]
“On the Role of Literature in Formation" is perhaps Pope Francis’s best document of his pontificate. Short, sweet, and full of good lines quoted and written. And yet he remains a "second friend" to many of his flock because they see their own world in some fundamentally different ways than he does. Pope Francis’s pontificate [...]
We ought to aim at the toughest penances, I believe. But we ought to remember two things. God has put the best ones right in front of our noses—if only we’ll accept the grace to see them and thank God in the midst of them. What ought I to do for extra penance in Lent? [...]
Recently, my cousin Keena’s husband of nearly thirty years died after a two-year fight with colon cancer. I was glad to attend the funeral and spend time with her and the family afterward. Mourning with those who mourn is a command we ought to take seriously, for it carries its own blessings, even if we [...]