Fr. Paul Mankowski uses tough language at times, but he also conveys a great deal of wisdom. His diagnoses might seem abrupt to those to whom they apply, but the reader notices a genuine sympathy for those in the priesthood or denominational bureaucracies who have quite often sold their souls or allowed them to be [...]
People often ask me about “spiritual reading.” I recommend Monsignor Knox. He gives us no visions or holy weirdness, which are themselves not necessary. Instead, he addresses us where we are in ordinary life. Ronald Knox (1888-1957) is a fascinating and too often underrated figure. Theologian Lawrence Cunningham observed a few years ago that, having [...]
As someone who has thought of himself as a writer since before he had really even published anything, I have always loved writing and hated it. Loved it because when one is in the rhythm of tapping out thoughts on the keyboard and the juices are flowing, there is nothing greater. Okay, it’s not a [...]
"Luca" might have “subtexts” that are unhealthy, but its “text” is about outsiders finding acceptance, fatherless children finding fathers, and young people whose talents fit them for things other than goatfish-herding being given the opportunity for school. None of those things belongs to one group exclusively. They belong to all of us who are human. [...]
Larry Elder’s film “Uncle Tom” is a must-see for anybody who thinks all black people think alike or that American black history is simply a history of victimhood. They’re black, they’re proud, and they’re all-American—just like the film they’re in. While it is unlikely that blacks will vote as a majority for Donald Trump or [...]
Documentary filmmaker Cameron O’Hearn's "Mass of the Ages" argues that in the abbreviation of the Roman Catholic liturgy after Vatican II, there was much left out of the Traditional Latin Mass. In an essay about Pope Francis’s recent legal document restricting the practice of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), I wrote that his legislation, though [...]
Fr. Joseph Koterski was a good Jesuit in a hard time to be one, but he made it look so easy. The reason was no doubt his great love, which bears all things, believes all things, and hopes all things. “An old friend and a very good man. A good Jesuit when it was hard [...]
I cannot fully accept the world of John Wick. But like the pagan world and the Old Testament’s eye-for-an-eye, I cannot fully reject it either. The world of Wick is a world of senseless violence and also violence that is roughly sensible because it is informed by justice. One of the most enjoyable action movie [...]
The last few days before my grandmother's death, she was mostly unconscious, but we would go over and sit with her and read or pray. Once when I was sitting with her, she suddenly sat up in bed and pointed her extremely long and thin index finger in the air. “My name is in the [...]
Written to record a four-week, 750-mile pilgrimage from Toul, France, to Rome for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, "The Path of Rome" epitomizes Hilaire Belloc’s capacity for alternating the heights of sublimity, the depths of profundity, and broad belly laughs of old jokes. Although as a popular historian and religious and political polemicist [...]
Pope Francis' new restrictions on the celebration of the "Old Mass" are made in the name of the “concord and unity” of the Church. But the pope's move is much more likely to steel the resolve of those who make the argument that the Roman Rite should return to its earlier form. Pope Francis’s Traditionis [...]
A ride on the river and a small-town celebration are a perfect way to spend a summer Sunday. “Dave, let’s go rafting.” It was my friend Ujae (pronounced You-jay), one of those fabulous immigrants (he’s Korean) who love America passionately and understand that it is both still a place of opportunity for one who hustles [...]
Wicked foolishness continues apace on the higher academic earth. The flood is sweeping away institution after institution. Yet at least one righteous man is gathering together verbal creatures of every kind—masculine, feminine, and neuter— into an ark and waiting for the flood waters to recede. First, the wicked foolishness. Almost a year ago, my fellow [...]
What really made me love New York City was the discovery of some of those conscious forces G.K. Chesterton talked about. I discovered that not only were the famous five boroughs their own conscious forces, but within the boroughs were smaller forces—neighborhoods just as homey and parochial as any small town anywhere. Though I grew [...]