What is enlightenment? -- among angels and us
intellectual historian I once knew used to say that you can really break through to understanding a deep thinker, if, when you encounter some bizarre passage, instead of dismissing it, you try to figure ...
The 'Catena Aurea': Read the Gospel this Advent with St. Thomas Aquinas
Suppose this Advent you were resolved to start reading the Bible on a daily basis, as the saints have advised and Pope Francis is famous for recommending: "It is very beautiful to think of life with the ...
The actual great transformation
I smile and look back with gentle pity when I think of myself as a newly converted Christian at Harvard, huddled together on Friday evenings in Phillips Brooks House with other members of the InterVarsity ...
Newman and the start of the academic year
The memorial of a canonized saint is typically his "dies natalis," his "birthday," the day he passed from this life and was born into everlasting life. But St. John Henry Newman died on Aug. 11, which ...
Demographic decline as caused by 'procreation'
What do we do when we have children? I want to say that the two words we use for it, "reproduction" and "procreation," are almost at war with each other. The word "procreation" connotes what theologians ...
Visiting the dying, a distinct work of mercy
It is not quite one of the corporal acts of mercy. These include "visiting the sick," even if the illness is temporary or slight, and "burying the dead." True, by extension, burying the dead includes ...
Pushed off the platform
It is highly important to the United States that some national political leader, somewhere, affirm the principle that since all human beings are created equal and endowed by their Creator with a right ...
Advice to fathers
I thought for this week following Father's Day I would try to remember and collect the best advice I know about fatherhood. Here it is: First, and above all, pray for each child each day. If possible, ...
