FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, on May 22, 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson stood before that year’s graduating class at the University of Michigan and delivered the speech that launched his Great Society program. It is a sad commentary on both the state of our economy and our politics that a Democratic president giving a similar speech today is almost unimaginable. In a way, Johnson was speaking directly to us, the descendants of those policy makers and visionaries: “The challenge of... Read more
IS THE UNITED STATES AN IMPERIAL POWER? I would say that it is, and that the evidence for this view is overwhelming. We spend more on our military than all of our main rivals — combined. Our troops garrison the world, we have bases on every continent, our Navy rules the waves, and so on. We are not the world’s most powerful country just by some accidental circumstance, but by design. Here is Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind describing a... Read more
This weekend, I stood with my local Pax Christi chapter, as well as a sizeable number of parishioners at the church where we meet, to take Pax Christi USA’s Vow of Nonviolence. The text of the vow is available through the above link, but I will also reproduce it in full here. Recognizing the violence in my own heart, yet trusting in the goodness and mercy of God, I vow for one year to practice the nonviolence of Jesus who... Read more
This past Sunday was World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In my own parish my pastor apologized for not addressing this in his homily. As he put it, he was faced with Good Shepard Sunday, Mothers Day and Vocations, and could not figure out how to combine the three. So he decided to preach a very thoughtful sermon on Christ the Good Shepard and our need to respond to the call of the truth from Him. In the past I... Read more
Resolved: the ritual of footwashing on Holy Thursday should be abolished or completely revised. Another Holy Thursday has come and gone, and with it the predictable storm over washing women’s feet during the ritual laving at the evening mass. Pope Francis has made his opinion on this matter very clear, going out to wash the feet of 12 men and women with disabilities at a home in Rome. Bishop Morlino led the opposition, very publicly instructing his priests that they... Read more
MY MIDDLE SCHOOL CLOSED ITS DOORS FOR GOOD four and a half years ago. I discovered this while I was on one of my nostalgia benders (what is middle age for?) and had stopped by to walk the grounds after school hours and savor bittersweet memories of gym class, a girl in eighth grade named Monica and long-ago pick-up basketball games that filled my after-school hours. (more…) Read more
Nine years ago the science fiction writer John Scalzi published a blog post entitled Being Poor. It became very popular and was reprinted in a number of venues. It consisted of a series of short statements that attempt to encapsulate what being poor in America really means. The list is long, but here are a few examples: Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she... Read more
In this post we conclude our Lenten reflection on the Nicene Creed. Parts I and II can be found here and here. Please contribute! I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and... Read more
Vox Nova is happy to present this post by Leah Perrault. Leah’s previous guest post at Vox Nova is available here: I’m Right Here. See Me. Last week, John Rogove, over at Ethika Politika, put out a piece that got me thinking about pornography again. It was a fascinating economic analysis of the “market” for the bodies and intimacy of women in the face of rising costs of living (in this case, of university tuition). I think the author is... Read more
We continue our Lenten reflection on the Creed. Please see Part I for the ground rules. Please contribute! Update 4/5/14: Part III has appeared. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into... Read more
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