A forum of Catholic Thought

Why we celebrate ThanksgivingRussell Shaw

Thanksgiving is one of those few national holidays when a semi-religious sentiment is allowed. It peeks through in reply to two obvious questions: Thanksgiving to whom for what? In search of an answer, ...

Newman on the process of conversion Russell Shaw

Lately, I've had occasion to read two books by St. John Henry Newman. One is Newman's first novel, "Loss and Gain," while the other is that classic "history of my religious opinions" (Newman's words), ...

What all Souls' Day is all about?Russell Shaw

"This mountain's of such sort that climbing it is hardest at the start; but as we rise, the slope grows less unkind." The speaker is the Roman poet Virgil, Dante's companion and guide in scaling ...

The Synod on Synodality approaches its conclusion Russell Shaw

Participants in the Synod on Synodality spent two days before the start of its final session in a closed retreat that ended with a "penitential liturgy." The synod office also provided the participants ...

Election year mannersRussell Shaw

"A man that'd expict to thrain lobsters to fly in a year is called a loonytic, but a man that thinks men can be tur-rned into angels by an iliction is called a rayformer and remains at large." That ...

Supreme Court preview Russell Shaw

When the Supreme Court opens for business again Oct. 7, it will have before it for argument and eventual decision in the term ahead at least three cases directly involving the protection of children and ...

A new look at the Synod on SynodalityRussell Shaw

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian communication guru of the last century who was probably best known for saying, "The medium is the message." As the second and last session of the Synod on Synodality draws ...

The meaning of the Assumption now Russell Shaw

"By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate ...