Category Archives: Other

Leonard DeLorenzo is a professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.  He recently wrote an article in Church Life Journal entitled, “Evangelization: If We Just Keep Them, We’ll Lose Them.”  The “them” he refers to are the young people who are the object of intense concern in the Church.  DeLorenzo argues that the Church makes a mistake when framing the issue in negative terms,Continue reading “Formation for Evangelization”

There was an article in the New York Times a number of years ago that reported on a place that scholars have called “the largest cemetery of sacrificed humans ever discovered.”  It’s located near the North African coast, not far from the city of Tunis, the site of the ancient Phoenician city of Carthage.  In its day, Carthage was one ofContinue reading “Carthago Delenda Est”

Last week someone shared with me a recent article from Commonweal by Cardinal Blaise Cupich, the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago.  Cardinal Cupich is generally considered to be a “progressive” member of the American episcopate, though those types of political labels are often unhelpful when applied to the Church.  Irrespective of one’s leanings, the article offers some compelling observations. In it, the Cardinal outlines several themes about the Eucharist that he believes should be the foundation of a strategy to address the significant challenges the Church faces inContinue reading “Forming a Eucharistic Strategy”

Over the past week we have been doing much as a nation to commemorate the terrible events of September 11, 2001.  Part of the ritual has been to share with each other our own experiences of that horrible day, which set so many things in motion and changed our world in so many ways.  I was living in Spain at theContinue reading “Seeking Refuge”

There was a very interesting opinion article in last Sunday’s New York Times (“How to Think Your Way Into Religious Belief” 8/15/21).  It was written by Ross Douthat, who has had a column in the Op-Ed section of the Times since 2009, and has on occasion used that space to write about religion.  Douthat is Catholic, and his writings demonstrate a broad interest in religious belief,Continue reading “Breaking the Spell”

Brandon Vogt is the Senior Content Editor at Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, an organization established by Bishop Robert Barron to provide tools of evangelization for Catholics.  Recently, I listened to Vogt speak about his new book called Return: How to Draw Your Child Back to the Church.  The book was the fruit of Vogt’s many years of research on the sky-rocketing number of people who were raisedContinue reading “Return”

I watch too much YouTube.  More often than not, it’s a big waste of time.  But sometimes you can come across something interesting there.  I recently watched an interview of the film director Spike Lee.  He was asked by the interviewer to put together a list of films that he would recommend to anyone interested in film.  At one point, he expressedContinue reading “Building on What We’ve Received”