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Restoring Your Heart, the Church, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral

In the last few weeks, the scaffolding covering all 330 feet of the Fifth Avenue façade of St. Patrick’s Cathedral has started to come down. The cathedral, which is currently being restored, was first built in marshy farmland and thus named “Hughes’ Folly” in mockery of the archbishop who began the project in 1858. Now she rests in the hustle amid the bustle of midtown Manhattan, dwarfed by Rockefeller Center, luxury hotels, and high-end shops… . Continue Reading »

Continuing to Fight for Marriage

Responses from right-minded marriage proponents to the Supreme Court’s June 26 decisions in two cases involving the (re)definition of marriage seemed to come in three waves. The immediate reaction, influenced no doubt by a partisan press, was that the friends of marriage had suffered a severe, and perhaps lethal, blow … Continue Reading »

Are We Really So Opposed to Discrimination?

As an attorney and university faculty member it can be painful to hear the word “discrimination” constantly thrown about, always negatively, as if any discrimination, we all readily know, should be instantly condemned and corrected. In point of fact, we discriminate against people, legally mind you, all the time. We discriminate, moreover, legally all the time against classes of persons… . Continue Reading »

Wisdom, Christian Witness, and the Year of Faith

A long time ago in Germany, a man kept a diary. And some of his words are worth sharing today, because they’re a good place to begin our discussion. The man wrote: “Speak both to the powerful and to every man”whoever he may be”appropriately and without affectation. Use plain language. Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance, and be ready to let it go. Order your life well in every single act… . Continue Reading »

Sunset Societies

The Independence Day fireworks over the National Mall are impressive to behold. Yet, watching from a hillside between Arlington National Cemetery and the Iwo Jima Marine War Memorial”both of which speak eloquently to the past sacrifices made for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”I could not shake my friend Os Guinness’s observations about “sunset societies.” … Continue Reading »

Chastened Patriotism

Vacation brought us this year to Washington, D.C. We went monument hunting in the dark. One can visit a lot of national monuments after hours: no crowds, no tourist trams, no hawkers, plus I could try my hand at night photography (hope you don’t mind if I show a couple results, dedicated to Lincoln and King). Take care where you park your automobile, however… . Continue Reading »

Remembering Andrew Greeley

Let me begin by paying Father Andrew Greeley, who died this past May 29, a compliment he’d never have paid me, or indeed anyone of my “location” in the Church: Catholicism was duller after Greeley was felled by an accident in 2008, and the Church feels emptier since his death… . Continue Reading »

When Clergy Electioneer

For better or worse, clergy have always been involved in U.S. politics. A Secret Life: The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland by Charles Lachman tells how pastors, rather fecklessly, virtually decided a presidential election… . Continue Reading »

Antonin Scalia, Bad Person

It was easy to miss but on June 30 the New York Post carried brief editorial remarks by Michael Goodwin that read: “Count me among those cheering the Supreme Court decisions on gay marriage. At least I was cheering until I read the part of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion where he claims the law he struck down was motivated by hate … Continue Reading »

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