Medieval Christians were obsessed with the Song of Songs. No book of the Bible received such intensely devoted attention in commentary and preaching. Bernard of Clairvaux preached eighty-six homilies on the Song and died just as he was getting started on chapter 3. The Song has a much-diminished place in the modern Christian imagination. The time is far past to reverse that trend, but it is worth reversing only if the Song is recovered as allegory… . Continue Reading»
Yesterday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, upholding a small Lutheran school’s right to control its employment of “commissioned ministers” on its teaching staff, is very good news indeed for religious freedom. Congratulations are due to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, to Professor Douglas Laycock of the University of Virginia (who teamed up with Becket in representing the school), and to writers of supportive amicus briefs… . Continue Reading»
If there is a thread running through these diverse personalities, it may be this: that men and women of intellect, culture and accomplishment have found in Catholicism what Blessed John Paul II called the “symphony of truth.” That rich and complex symphony, and the harmonies it offers, is an attractive, compelling and persuasive alternative to the fragmentation of modern and post-modern intellectual and cultural life, where little fits together and much is cacophony. Continue Reading »
Sexual harassment training programs are not in short supply. Three states mandate them. Two well-publicized Supreme Court cases prescribe the programs as quasi-vaccines against the maladies of liability and damages. For that reason, countless insurance companies force policyholders to herd employees into PowerPoint-based education sessions conducted by human resources personnel. There is also a cottage industry of consultants offering these courses, mostly in the mandating states… . Continue Reading»
When I was a little girl my mother informed me, early and often, that “children should be seen, and not heard.” An obedient sort, I soon learned that if I would only keep my piehole closed, I was quite welcome to hover at the periphery of adult gatherings, until well past bedtime. There, I would quietly drink in the stories that would bubble up and out of various aunties and uncles whose guards were let down and tongues loosened”for better or worse”thanks to a steady imbibing of what they called “the creature” in all its shades… . Continue Reading»
FoxNews.com gave its link to its piece on Benedict’s Christmas homily at midnight mass the title, “Pope Laments Christmas Glitter,” while CNN.com ran with “Pope Shuns Consumerism.” But the bulk of the papal message at midnight mass was not one of lament, but joy and wonder. The somewhat misleading titles came from the antepenultimate paragraph. After reflecting on God’s humility in becoming the baby Jesus to seek our love, Benedict writes … Continue Reading»
Sometimes it’s hard to understand why young people deviate from the conservative mentalities of their parents during their young adult years, but Raised Right: How I Untangled my Faith from Politics offers an explanation for the switch. Recounting experiences of faith and politics through childhood into young adult years, Raised Right is an early memoir, chronicling Alisa Harris’ leap, like that of many young people, across the political divide from right to left… . Continue Reading»
Popular talk of one’s “calling” betrays a crucial misunderstanding of discernment, a cardinal error that is entirely foreign to the great tradition of the Church. Continue Reading»
The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed new regulations that will address child labor on farms. Among the proposed rules, paid child workers (these could be kids employed by their own families) under the age of fifteen would not be allowed to operate tractors, combines, ATVs, or most other power-driven equipment without special certification. No one under eighteen could work around grain elevators, feed lots, or livestock auctions. And no texting while tractoring; no iPod or walkie-talkie use, either… . Continue Reading»
As I remarked late last year, the introduction of the third edition of the Roman Missal and the new translations of the liturgical texts offer the entire English-speaking Church an opportunity to correct some bad liturgical habits that have developed over the past four decades. The point of these corrections is neither liturgical prissiness nor aesthetic nostalgia; there is no “reform of the reform” to be found in lace surplices, narrow fiddleback chasubles, and massive candles. The point of correcting bad habits is to celebrate the Novus Ordo of Paul VI with dignity and beauty, so that Holy Mass is experienced for what it is: our participation in the liturgy of saints and angels in heaven”where, I am quite confident, they don’t sing treacly confections like “Gather Us In.” … Continue Reading»
