“You are dust,” says Genesis 3:19, “and to dust you shall return.” Every Ash Wednesday, we hear this scriptural reminder of our mortality. While the soul is immortal, the body naturally decays after death. Naturally — but not always. On Aug. 28, the Diocese of Ávila in Spain reported, “Today the tomb of St. Teresa was opened and we have verified that it is in the same condition as when it was last opened in 1914.” St. Teresa of Ávila died more than four centuries ago on Oct. 4, 1582. The week before, on Aug. 22, Bishop James Johnston in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, released a report on Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster — the foundress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles monastery in Gower, Missouri — who died in 2019 and was buried with no embalming or artificial p...

There is a video circulating on social media of an octogenarian woman offering her best advice. She is clad in large, chic glasses and chunky jewelry. To live her best life, she explains, a woman needs to be as independent as possible: no men, no children, lots of money, and lots of friends. As I watched, I was amazed at how compelling she was. And clearly, I’m not the only one — with thousands of comments affirming that this woman is a living sage. I recall hearing similar advice as a teenager. It was shiny and seductively simple. The belief that I, too, could become this idealized independent woman welled up in my adolescent heart. “I don’t need anyone,” I told myself as I looked brightly toward the future and all the important things I imagined I would do. The problem, of course, i...

There is nothing like parenting, or teaching, or any real formation of the young to help us to see and focus on what really matters. If we have come to the insight that living well—or living virtuously—is at the center of the human vocation, then the enormity of a question begins to dawn on us: what makes people actually want to live that way? We are all familiar with the phenomenon of those—often but not only the young—conforming to good conduct for a time only to abandon it later for something that, clearly, they find more desirable. And while such a happening does not necessarily impugn the formation received—for with human freedom no formation is a sure fire—it does move us to look more closely at how best to form people in virtue. The wise always have and always will give great attent...

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio – articles – email ) | Sep 09, 2024 I suppose the name of Planned Parenthood should be changed to Parenthood Denial since the bulk of the organization’s work consists not only of preventing pregnancy but of terminating pregnancy, that is, of preventing birth. The organization’s traffic in embryonic tissue has also been well-documented. There is, of course, a great deal of money involved in its operations, and even if many Planned Parenthood employees and promoters are sincere in their misguided convictions, the organization has to be one of the most cynical on the planet. However, the flight from parenthood in the West is nearly as strong a trend as the desire for “sexual experiences”, and so the organization continues to prosper. For these reasons, I th...

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