Left

In her prescient book, Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse, Mary Ann Glendon of the Harvard Law School warned her fellow Americans in 1993 that our public life was being degraded by the promiscuous use of the language of “rights” as a rhetorical intensifier in campaigns to promote this, that, or the other thing: things that the Founders and Framers would never have imagined to be “rights.” “Rights talk,” Professor Glendon cautioned, sets the individual against the community, as it privileges personal autonomy – “I did it my way” – over the common good. And that, she concluded, was going to be very bad for the American experiment in ordered liberty over the long haul. The long haul has now arrived. And the results are every bit as bad as Professor Glendon predicted. Nowhe...

The Vatican has issued a cautious ruling allowing the faithful to benefit from the spiritual phenomena reported at Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Cardinal Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), announced the finding at a press conference accompanying the release of a document titled “‘The Queen of Peace’: Note About the Spiritual Experience Connected with Medjugorje.”  This document authorized the granting of a nihil obstat (Latin, “nothing obstructs”) for the phenomena, provided certain clarifications are understood.   The nihil obstat is one of the new categories introduced in May 2024, when the DDF issued its new “Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena.” It does not imply the origin of an ev...

By Clement Harrold September 20, 2024 The Babylonian exile is one of the most important events in salvation history. In fact, there are large portions of the Scriptures—the majority of the prophets, for instance—which don’t really make sense until we first learn to appreciate what the exile was and why it matters. So what is it exactly? Also known as the Bablyonian captivity, the Babylonian exile refers to the deportation of the Jewish people away from their homeland of Judah and into Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (also known as the Chaldean Empire). Though no longer extant, Babylon was then located on the Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq. This was not the first exile to afflict God’s people. Back in B.C. 722, the mighty Assyrian Empire h...

Readings:Wisdom 2:12,17-20Psalm 54:3-8James 3:16-4:3Mark 9:30-37 In today’s First Reading, it’s like we have our ears pressed to the wall and can hear the murderous grumblings of the elders, chief priests, and scribes—who last week Jesus predicted would torture and kill Him (see Mark 8:31; 10:33–34). The liturgy invites us to see this passage from the Book of Wisdom as a prophecy of the Lord’s Passion. We hear His enemies complain that “the Just One” has challenged their authority, reproached them for breaking the law of Moses, for betraying their training as leaders and teachers. And we hear chilling words that foreshadow how they will mock Him as He hangs on the Cross: “For if the Just One be the Son of God, He will . . . deliver Him . . . ” (compare Matthew 27:41–43). Today’s Gospel and...

Editor’s Note: At the request of the Abbey of St. Walburga and out of respect for the hiddenness of the beautiful Benedictine vocation, the names of the nuns interviewed have been removed. This and subsequent articles are the fruits of exclusive interviews and tours of the Abbey, granted by Mother Maria-Michael, O.S.B., for the edification of the archdiocesan community. Nestled near the Wyoming border, the Abbey of St. Walburga is far removed from much of the world. The nearest town is 30 miles away. Cell service is spotty. There are very few people around. By the world’s standards, it’s in the middle of nowhere and not worth much attention. But somehow, in the divine economy, this humble Abbey in the “middle of nowhere” matters more than we know. The Benedictine nuns put St. Benedict’s fa...

Sanda Ojiambo speaks in “What Do We Owe Each Other” university forum Former Planned Parenthood executive Sanda Ojiambo spoke in a September 12 keynote event during the presidential inauguration events of Father Robert Dowd, C.S.C. Her livestreamed conversation, titled “Business as a Global Force For Good,” was part of the annual Notre Dame Forum, a speaker series For the theme of this year’s forum, Fr. Dowd chose “What Do We Owe Each Other?”  From 2002 to 2008, Ojiambo worked in Planned Parenthood’s international operations in several capacities. Ojiambo worked as the Senior Programme Officer of Planned Parenthood Federation of America – International from 2002 to 2004, where she directed “reproductive health Programmes in selected African countries, with a focus on youth and advocacy...

The word ‘place’ can both mislead and make us uncomfortable. I still think we should consider the ‘place’ of man and woman because it makes us reckon with something that demands attention. How to be a man or woman will always be a central feature of becoming who we are. And it’s something we need to figure out. Think of any past hero or great person today. Being a man or a woman has been refined and developed in that person. Ever so gracefully and naturally, masculinity or femininity is a hallmark of the person’s life. Human greatness always has the same essential features, such as the cardinal virtues. Yet at the same time, the wise have asserted that these virtues are lived differently by men and women. There is real difference even in the very ‘same’ things: a difference that is meaning...

When I was a little boy, my uncle once told me about his chance encounter with former NBA Basketball star, Michael Jordan—my childhood hero. While interviewing for a job at a Cleveland hotel, my uncle ran into Jordan in a parking garage elevator of all places. As Jordan left the elevator, my uncle said, “Good luck tonight!” That night Jordan crushed my Cleveland Cavaliers. I was shocked that my uncle didn’t ask for his autograph—as a young boy, I chased professional athletes’ autographs—they were like gold. But as I’ve aged, my heroes are no longer those who play sports, and autographs are no longer currency. Instead, I find heroic those who follow God’s will, and I seek out their blessings so that I may do the same. In my life, I have been blessed to meet Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Fr. Andre...

By Phil Lawler ( bio – articles – email ) | Sep 16, 2024 During his exchange with reporters on his return trip from Signapore last week, Pope Francis said that the Vatican’s secret agreement with Beijing on the appointment of new bishops offers “a promise and a hope.” The Pontiff was upbeat about the future of Vatican relations with China, and about the outcome of that agreement. “The result is good,” he said. How good? Gianni Valente, the director of the Vatican’s Fides news service, argues that “if we stick to the facts, the papal judgment is an act of simple Christian realism.” Well then, let’s stick to the facts. The goal of the secret agreement was to ensure that all the Catholic dioceses in China are led by bishops in full communion with the Holy See. In the six years sin...

Lila Rose/YouTube Lila Rose told her followers last month Trump had made it “impossible” to support him Among the more than 67 million people who tuned in to the first US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was Lila Rose. The young and charismatic founder of the anti-abortion group Live Action had hoped for big things from the Republican candidate: a bold display of anti-abortion beliefs and a promise to turn those beliefs into law. She was quickly disappointed. While Trump criticised Democrats’ “extreme” abortion policies, he refused to take a position on a national ban, saying instead that the issue should be left to the states. And he called himself a “leader” on IVF, putting himself at odds with Ms Rose and many in her movement, who oppose the procedu...