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In his final letter, St. Paul gives Timothy an important exhortation for those under his pastoral care: Remind them of this, and charge them before the Lord to avoid disputing about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers (2 Tim. 2:14). In his previous letter, Paul gives an even more strongly worded warning: If anyone . . . does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth (1 Tim. 6:3-5) As you can see, Paul is not a fan of fights about words. Yet Paul’s letters are filled w...

On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering of The Theology of Home join Executive Editor Joy Pullmann to discuss the importance of home life and share their secrets to flourishing. “We have this blaring message coming from the culture that is telling us things like the patriarchy is the problem, my body my choice, and children are our enemy, are a real obstacle to our success and our happiness. And these are the things that the left has been telling us for 50 years and I think a lot of us, you know, in our bones know that there’s just something wrong with this framework,” Gress said. Both Gress and Mering said what happens in the home is “vital” and “life-altering” but needs to be cultivated. The home impacts “the future society but also just the human bei...

At daily Mass, we are reading the story of St. Paul’s arrival in Philippi and later of his arrest, beating, and imprisonment. It serves as a kind of metaphor for the radical nature of true Christianity and why it so perturbs many in this world. The Christian faith, its message, and the transformation it can effect can be very unsettling to a world that literally and figuratively “banks on” sin. Let’s consider this lesser- known story and see what it ought to mean for us if we take our Christian faith seriously and do not try to “tame” it. Philippi was the first “European” city that Paul evangelized when he came across from Asia Minor. Arriving at the port of Philippi in Macedonia, Paul and Silas went right to work evangelizing. One of their first converts was Lydia, a wealthy woman from Th...

6th Sunday of Easter Who was the first person on earth to know you in your lifetime? Upon reflection, you realize it was your mother. Your mother knew you long before you knew her. And I would wager that she loved you as herself, even willing perhaps to lay down her life for you with the greatest love. An unborn baby’s understanding of things, of its mother and of itself, is limited. But the mother surrounds the baby. She is responsible for and behind the child’s entire universe. The little one is totally dependent upon her, and experiences everything in the midst of mom. Though the sound is quiet and somewhat muffled with distracting noises, the listening little child can hear the mother’s voice and feel her pulse. Imagine an unborn baby doubting and asking, “Does Mom really exist? Is the...

Choosing a work of art to illustrate this Sunday’s readings was harder than usual, because the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Sundays of Lent take their Gospels from John and tend to deal with more abstract ideas: the Good Shepherd, the Vine and the Branches, Being Called Jesus’ Friends. Most artists depicting religious themes tend to have a more historical approach, representing what an event might have looked like. But when we come to the kinds of theological abstractions found in parts of John’s Gospel and which we focus on in the latter weeks of the Easter Season, finding artistic representations becomes more challenging because the art must also be more abstract and symbolic.  One way of getting around the challenge is to focus on one of the other readings. But I’ve tried this year to ...

By Tom Hoopes, May 6, 2021 There is one argument that quiets objections to Christianity, impresses angry opponents, and subtly undermines all counter-arguments. It has propelled the Church forward every time the Church has used it, and it has left the Church in ruins every time we have forgotten it. Love is that argument, and Jesus lays it out most memorably in the Gospel of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B. Love is a choice — a choice to ally oneself with God. Jesus goes into surprising detail about just how practical his commandment to love is. “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love,” he says. “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” The syllogism is there for all to see, but it seems incredible: If Jesus loves us as the Father loves him, w...

Simon Sinek has spoken about how much value he’s gotten from studying the work of his longtime professional rival Adam Grant. Watching another person do very similar work but with his own unique strengths on display, Sinek claims, both frustrated him and helped him grow. For me, the person who very often makes me feel that way is Oliver Burkeman.  A former Guardian columnist and author of several books, Burkeman is not only obviously more accomplished than me, he also covers similar topics around psychology, success, and productivity. That means very often I read something he’s written and realize we’ve seen the same studies or referenced the same author. Burkeman just frequently manages to boil that wisdom down in a more compelling and cohesive way than I do.  ...

(CNN) — A major diplomatic incident has been avoided in Europe after a Belgian farmer accidentally moved the border with France, making his home country about 1,000 square meters bigger. Luckily, local authorities saw the funny side. The border between Belgium and France stretches 390 miles (620 kilometers) and the stone markers that define it have been peacefully in place for more than 200 years. One of the boundary stones, however — laid down in 1819, shortly before the Treaty of Kortrijk sealed the deal — was recently spotted as being out of place by 2.29 meters (7.5 feet). A farmer from the Belgian town of Erquelinnes is believed to have moved the nuisance stone on his land to a more convenient spot, without anticipating the potential for an international kerfuffle. Erqueli...

Praise God for this amazing miracle! The blood of St. Januarius miraculously liquified on Sun., May 2 at 5:18 p.m. local time after it remained solid in Dec. 2020. However, the annual celebration of relics did not occur this year due to pandemic restrictions. “The miracle of the liquefaction of the Blood of San Gennaro has happened!” the YouTube caption says. “There was a big lump in the center of the case, but suddenly the blood started to melt!” The liquefaction miracle of St. Januarius’ blood typically occurs three times per year at the Cathedral of Naples in Italy: the first Saturday of May (the celebration of his relics arriving at the Cathedral) on the saint’s Sept. 19 feast, and on Dec. 16, the anniversary of Naples’ preservation from the 1631 Mount Vesuvius eruption. St. Januarius&...

Authorities announced charges against a suspected arsonist whom investigators believe ignited the overnight fire that gutted much of Mission San Gabriel last July.  Fifty-seven-year-old John David Corey Jr. was arrested last year for another, “unrelated” arson attack in the San Gabriel Valley that took place days after the July 11, 2020 fire at the mission.  “It was during this separate incident that investigators deemed Mr. Corey a person of interest in the Mission San Gabriel case,” according to a statement from the San Gabriel Fire Department. “After a thorough investigation, investigators determined that Corey was responsible for the fire at the Mission San Gabriel.” Corey was charged Tuesday morning with two felony counts of arson of an inhabited structure and one count each...

By Phil Lawler ( bio – articles – email ) | Apr 30, 2021 Don’t underestimate the importance of this week’s news from Rome. The reforms that Pope Francis announced this week may be among the most significant—and best—moves of his pontificate. Early this week, in a a pair of essays, I argued that during his eight years in office, Pope Francis had made little if any headway in eliminating the financial corruption that plagues the Holy See. As if in response (although I’m quite sure he did not read those columns), the Pope unleashed two significant reforms, announced yesterday and today. Today’s announcement—that cardinals and bishops may be required to face charges before the Vatican’s criminal tribunals—was certainly significant. But the previous day’s news was a veritable blockb...

Mike Leiter: The three analysts were spread about the likelihood that it was bin Laden: The highest was 70, 75, 80 percent, then there was one who said 60 percent, and then the lowest was 40 percent. Ben Rhodes: That led to this brief debate about who is right, and Obama cut that off with some irritation and just said, “Look, this is inevitably a 50/50 call. We’re just going to have to accept that.” Leon Panetta: McRaven basically presented that summary of what would happen: Helicopters would go in and [SEALs would] rappel down, go into the compound. It would be a nighttime operation. After that’s when the president basically looked at everybody around that table and said, “What do you think?” Tom Donilon: He had seated in the Situation Room at the table some of the most prominent American...