Speaking to the heart of Catholic life, B16 today: Jesus presents himself as the living bread come down from heaven. May we always hunger for the gift of his presence in the Eucharistic sacrifice, wherein Jesus gives us his very self as food and drink to sustain us on our pilgrim journey to the Father. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the... Read more
“She relied upon one power to guide her: the power of the Holy Spirit. She revealed it to be more effective than all the political strategy this world could formulate,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List said in tribute to Nellie Gray, founder of the March for Life, who died on Monday at age 88. What a beautiful thing to be able to say about a person! And the spirits Gray lifted, witness she inspired, and the healing... Read more
Via the Liturgy of the Hours: Father, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, to save us and restore us to your friendship. Look upon our contrite heart and afflicted spirit and heal our troubled conscience, so that in the joy and strength of the Holy Spirit we may proclaim your praise and glory before all the nations. Read more
Cardinal Dolan has a weekly radio show on the Catholic Channel on Sirius. Yesterday he took the show as an opportunity to talk about what he thinks of Paul Ryan. I write about what he said here. He also had a lovely interview with Dean Koontz, thoughts about the Assumption, and, in response to a man-outside-St.-Pat’s question about saints, he emphasized the intercessory aspect to the cloud of witnesses; we pray with and through the saints, he explained: We go to... Read more
Paul Ryan’s bishop, Robert C. Morlino, writes that he is “proud” of Paul Ryan, who “is aware of Catholic Social Teaching and is very careful to fashion and form his conclusions in accord with [its] principles.” He quickly adds, however: It is the role of bishops and priests to teach principles of our faith, such that those who seek elected offices, if they are Catholics, are to form their consciences according to these principles about particular policy issues. And so he... Read more
We’re celebrating the feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven today. And I am reminded today of National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr.’s great love of the Blessed Mother. In his book Nearer My God, he explained why people there are pilgrims in Lourdes, France, and provided insight into what religious faith meant in his life: They are in Lourdes because of this palpability of the emanations that gave birth to the shrine. The spiritual tonic is felt. If... Read more
A helpful history lesson from Linda Bridges. Read more
Cardinal Dolan writes a forthright account of his thoughts and deliberations and prayers concerning the Al Smith dinner invitation to President Obama (which I wrote about on National Review Online last week here): an invitation to the Al Smith Dinner in no way indicates a slackening in our vigorous promotion of values we Catholic bishops believe to be at the heart of both gospel and American values, particularly the defense of human dignity, fragile life, and religious freedom. In fact, one could... Read more
From my interview with Elizabeth Kantor about her new book The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After: LOPEZ: Where does religion fit into love and courtship in Austen’s world? KANTOR: Well, one of her novels is actually about that, at least in large part. In Mansfield Park, Henry Crawford falls deeply in love with Fanny Price and tries to explain to his sister what’s so wonderful about her, why he knows he can trust Fanny completely — and Jane Austen... Read more
Where abortion is “taking motherhood seriously.” We must do better. Read more
Kathryn Lopez
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