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Welcome to Babylon: When a Wall Trumps Freedom to Worship

January 14, 2019 By Julia Smucker

NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday featured a poignant interview with Father Roy Snipes, who serves Mission, Texas’ La Lomita Chapel. The chapel, which dates back to the 19th-century missions, is now under threat of seizure by the federal government under eminent domain, another potential casualty of the war of the wall. Fr. Snipes calmly and sadly describes the beauty and historicity of the place, which he says would become “a desecrated sacred place” if the diocesan-owned land on which the chapel… Read more

A Petition to the American Bishops

January 13, 2019 By David Cruz-Uribe

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There is a petition addressed to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that has recently been circulating online and gathering signatures. It was started by Holly Taylor Coolman, an assistant professor of Theology at Providence College. My fellow blogger Mark Gordon shared it on his Facebook page, and I liked it enough that I signed it and shared it on my page. I suggested that we post it to the blog, and he agreed. Here is the body of… Read more

So what is the problem? A post to start a discussion

January 6, 2019 By David Cruz-Uribe

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This post began about a month ago, when I got a funding raising email from Formed. For those who are not aware of this website, it is an on demand e-library run by the Augustine Institute, which describes its mission as follows: The Augustine Institute serves the formation of Catholics for the New Evangelization. Through our academic and parish programs, we equip Catholics intellectually, spiritually, and pastorally to renew the Church and transform the world for Christ. Formed is marketed… Read more

An old millennial, unlearning entitlement

December 31, 2018 By Jeannine Pitas

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A few weeks ago, Facebook presented me with a 2018 “year in review.” A carefully curated version of my life over the past year flashed before my eyes. A delightful photo of me reading poetry at a writers’ conference in Florida. An announcement of the publication of my third chapbook. A video of me with my parents at a polka dance party in Buffalo, NY (in case you’re uninformed, polka is the liveliest, most joy-inspiring music you’ll ever hear). Photos… Read more

2019 Prophecies. You’re Welcome.

December 31, 2018 By Mark Gordon

A combination of wishful thinking and reflexive pessimism typically overwhelms my otherwise rational predictive powers, so you shouldn’t sell the house, buy stock, or jump on any political bandwagons after reading this. Read more

Peter Jackson’s Reminder That War is Blasphemy

December 27, 2018 By Mark Gordon

Truth is, the whole thing is sickening, and this may be Jackson’s greatest achievement. By juxtaposing youthful joie de vivre with the reality of death in the mud, he has poignantly reminded us of the colossal waste of war. Read more

Speaking Truth With Love: An Interview With Siobhan O’Connor

December 26, 2018 By Jeannine Pitas

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2018 has not been an easy year for Catholics around the world as more and more cases of sexual abuse of children have come to light. One particularly hard-hit community was my own native Diocese of Buffalo, NY. In October of this year I was shocked to learn that Siobhan O’Connor – former assistant to Bishop of Buffalo Richard Malone – had leaked documents to a local news station revealing that the Catholic Church’s leader in Western New York had… Read more

Merry Christmas and Thank You for your Support

December 25, 2018 By David Cruz-Uribe

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Friends of Vox Nova, on behalf of all the regular contributors, I want to wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas. May the Christ Child, who brought light into the darkness of our world, continue to pour his light into your hearts. May the love of God, which is beyond all understanding, a love made flesh, be his gift to you this Christmas day. In addition, because of your readership, we have again earned a small royalty… Read more

As Guest, As Brother: Verse for Advent

December 18, 2018 By Mark Gordon

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Of all the liturgical seasons, Advent is uniquely colored by mystery, longing, and paradox. It is therefore the season most susceptible to the power of poetry, a form far more capable of channeling these three movements than prose. As Madeline L’Engle writes in her Advent poem, After Annunciation, “This is the irrational season / when love blooms bright and wild. / Had Mary been filled with reason / there’d have been no room for the child.” In this poem, On the Mystery of… Read more