Why We Need Lent

Why We Need Lent | Fr. George William Rutler | Lent is a small familiarity with the inexhaustible drama of redemption in which eternity transfigures mortality.

The Islamization of America? Contemplating the Unthinkable | William Kilpatrick | The thought of America turning into an Islamic society is difficult to entertain. But is it really so far fetched?

Make Your Hearts Firm This Lent | Maria Cintorino | During Lent, the Church calls the faithful to conversion by calling to mind the image of Christ being drawn into the desert by the Spirit.

We are called to be fishers of men | Carl E. Olson | God initiates. Man responds. Jesus calls. Man answers. Such is the dynamic relationship at the heart of salvation history and at the center of human existence.

O Christ, Where Are Thou? | Lauren Enk Mann | The Coen brothers' "Hail, Caesar!" is a witty and endearing romp through the Golden Age of Hollywood, but also the story of a man who is serious about his faith.

Bridges of San Luis Rey: Early sacred music from Latin America | R.J. Stove | The sacred music of Latin America in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries has only recently been discovered by recording labels. The results are always striking and frequently marvelous.

What Should We Do About Natural Law? | James Kalb | Our governing institutions and the public at large have staked their authority and actions on the rejection of natural law in favor of preference satisfaction. So what can be done?

Behind the Scenes at Vatican II | Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas | The first volume of Henri de Lubac's Vatican Council Notebooks is filled with detailed and often surprising accounts of conversations, disputes, and key figures at the Council.

Have we blurred the boundaries between the ordained and the laity? | Dr. Anne Hendershott | Originally embraced as a way to offset priest shortages, pastoral associate programs can sometimes be used to push other agendas.

Ecology in Czech Republic, from a Franciscan Perspective | Benjamin J. Vail | Their efforts to follow the Franciscan principle of poverty lead many to pursue a relatively simple lifestyle, which has direct benefits for the environment.

Carl's Cuts: Francis & China, Catholic education, Obama & Islam, insanity in the ivory tower, more | Carl E. Olson | Observations on current events, recent commentary, and related matters from the editor of Catholic World Report.

Anger and citizenship | George Weigel | I hope that, as the 2016 campaign unfolds, the electorate will begin to understand that anger is not a particularly healthy metric of public life.

Feminist celebrity on trial in Canada for sex assault | Dorothy Cummings McLean | The Ghomeshi scandal has Canadians asking if Jian Ghomeshi used his liberal credentials as a front to abuse women.

Cdl. Müller discusses mercy, stresses continuity between Benedict and Francis | Catherine Harmon | During a visit to the US, the prefect of the CDF offered a reflection on "Deus Caritas Est" and dismissed attempts to pit one pope against another.

Lent, Conversion, and Vocation | Russell Shaw | For good people in particular, Lent is a time to take a closer look at whether some Satanic solicitation--call it the temptation to be too pleased with themselves-has begun whispering to them.

Confusing Panda, Syncretistic Dragon | Nick Olszyk | "Kung Fu Panda 3" features some beautiful animation but is otherwise unbearably flat, with recycled jokes, dull characters, and a contradictory approach to its own universe.

OTHER RECENT, POPULAR ARTICLES:

Fatima at 100: The message of Our Lady for today | Jim Graves | An interview with Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., author of Fatima for Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope.

Who are the Real Anti-Semites? | William Kilpatrick | It’s odd how when a Muslim mob attacks a landmark cathedral in Europe and assaults women, that somehow means that it’s time to issue warnings about the new nationalists.

The Pillars of Lent | Fr. David Vincent Meconi, SJ | During the purifying Season of Lent we are enabled to do something that lower creatures cannot, and higher creatures need not.

Why Hard Cases Make Bad Law: A Satire | Dr. Randall B. Smith | Former World War II German soldier complains: “Why does everyone think it’s okay to lie to me?”

"Partakers in the Suffering”: Recent events in China’s hopeful Church | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D. | The situation in China is far more complex than a simple chronicle of antagonism, suspicion, and persecution; progress and hope also punctuate the narrative.

Bishop Doerfler of Marquette lays foundation for reform of sacred music | Brendon Ford | New instruction, which applies to all parishes and schools, requires all to learn the English chants from a Mass setting found in the Roman Missal, as well as Latin chants from the Missa Jubilate Deo.

The Catholic Novelist As Peddler in Bleak Midwinter | James Casper | For today’s writer of novels with Catholic content, refuge may be found in a distant past and a faraway time and place, but almost nowhere close to home.

A Bishop Speaks to the Men of His Flock | Jim Graves | Bishop Thomas Olmsted discusses his recently released exhortation to Catholic men and the particular challenges he sees facing men of faith today.

Adventures in Logic: Are believers more rational than non-believers? | Thomas M. Doran | The man on the street often insists that non-believers are more rational than believers, but is this a logical conclusion on the evidence?