A forum of Catholic Thought

Perspectives gained from my Archives internship

Small, everyday occurrences tend to be overshadowed by history's grand, extraordinary, or abnormal events. On the surface, worldly events such as the French Revolution or the "discovery" of the Americas ...



'There Are Two': Pope Gelasius and Jefferson's 'Wall of Separation'Kenneth Craycraft

In a Jan. 1, 1802, letter to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptist Association, President Thomas Jefferson wrote one of the most famous sentences in American presidential history. After quoting the religion ...

ReadersFather Robert M. O'Grady

''Sacred scripture is of the greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy. For it is from scripture that lessons are read and explained in the homily, and psalms are sung; the prayers, ...

Deer in the dusky eveningEffie Caldarola

On a dusky fall evening, I take a walk down a familiar neighborhood street. Ahead of me, a small deer looks my way at the same moment I spot him. Freezing, I realize he's being followed by seven companions. ...

World Mission Sunday: A Universal Day of Celebration!Maureen Crowley Heil

Because our Church is universal, Mass is celebrated in many different dialects every day. When you consider the message spoken around our altars, it becomes apparent that we speak a common language -- ...

What God has joinedScott Hahn

In today's Gospel, the Pharisees try to trap Jesus with a trick question. The "lawfulness" of divorce in Israel was never an issue. Moses had long ago allowed it (see Deuteronomy 24:1-4). But Jesus ...

The Synod on Synodality approaches its conclusionRussell 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 ...

Scripture Reflection for Oct. 6, 2024, Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeFather Joshua J. Whitfield

Gn 2:18-24 Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 Heb 2:9-11 Mk 10:2-16 or 10:2-12 As Eve to Adam in the purity of Eden, as bride to groom in the joy of a wedding: it is a primeval holiness, the holiness of a woman ...

Make everything a sacrifice to sanctify the worldDr. R. Jared Staudt

"Make everything you can a sacrifice." -- The Angel of Portugal to the three Fatima children Sacrifice stands before us as the hidden key to life. The word itself may sound frightening, conjuring ...