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A Shepherd I Will Remain

My little cousin and I watch as my uncle washes away the blood, and examines the wound. He is making that odd breathless noise—halfway between a gasp of surprise and a sigh of regret—that he always makes when an attack has been thwarted. My uncle, after all, is nearly forty; an old man long past the charms of making his bed upon the chill earth at night; disenchanted with stargazing while wolves in the dark distance howl, or creep in silence, just beyond our sight. . . . Continue Reading »

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown

In A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charlie Brown’s quest to escape a melancholy brought on by the materialism and artificiality climaxes with Linus’ powerful recitation of St. Luke’s nativity. Remembered now as a classic, the success of the special was by no means assured … Continue Reading »

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’Tis the season to be jolly. ’Tis also the season for me to ask for your financial support! Our mission is important. Our need is great. First Things magazine and firstthings.com are published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, a 503(c)(b) non-profit that depends on people like you for donations… . Continue Reading »

Bringing Mary in from the Cold

It is that season of the year when the Blessed Virgin Mary takes center stage—at least for a brief while—among almost all Christians everywhere. She does this because she has to. No Mary, no Christmas. No Christmas, no Christ. No Christ, no Christianity. Even John Calvin, the chief pioneer of Reformed Protestantism, recognized this. “We cannot enjoy the blessing brought to us in Christ,” he wrote, “without thinking at the same time of that which God gave as adornment and honor to Mary, in willing her to be the mother of his only begotten Son” … Continue Reading »

Christmas Draws Near

The mystery of Christmas begins with Abraham. It’s the story of love’s crazy concentration—God’s decision to get under our skin, as it were, by coming near and looking us in the eye… . Continue Reading »

Have Mercy on Clarence Aaron

Our leaders don’t use their power to show mercy much anymore. There isn’t a measurable political upside in releasing prisoners from lawful punishments. If the released do nothing wrong thereafter, the releaser receives no career benefit. But if a commuted criminal reoffends, woe betide the governor running for office who released him. For the ambitious politician, it is a pointless risk to take. The time has come to change direction. Toward that end, I write in support of a decade-long campaign that seeks mercy for federally convicted drug felon Clarence Aaron. . . . Continue Reading »

Grace, Love, and Great Expectations

With the bicentennial of Charles Dickens taking place last year, it’s not surprising that we were given some new adaptations of his work. What is surprising is that we got two different adaptations of Great Expectations, one on television and now, just arrived in the United States, one on film. Why is this the Dickens novel, out of all his major works, that keeps catching the attention of adapters? Do we really need another Great Expectations film? . . . Continue Reading »

A New Model for Catholic Parishes

A group of couples from my neighborhood in Pacific Palisades, California, men and women I’ve known for more than twenty years, got together for dinner a few months ago. Most of these people are non-religious … to put it mildly. They think of me as the “Crazy Catholic,” so we do not spend too much time discussing religion. They made their views on the issue clear many years ago. Nevertheless, at this party, during the dinner conversation, one of the women said to another, “Did you hear what the Pope said last week?” … Continue Reading »

Marco Rubio’s Rise and Fall

In the immediate aftermath of Mitt Romney’s defeat, Marco Rubio was the most popular choice for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Rubio has since fallen behind Chris Christie and Rand Paul and, in some polls, has also fallen behind Ted Cruz. The lesson of the 2012 Republican nomination race is that early polls are volatile, but the rise and fall of the freshman Republican Senator from Florida is more than a story of Rubio’s foibles and tactical mistakes. It is also a story of how conservative Republican have projected their hopes on him, and how those hopes were not merely dashed, but unrealistic in the first place. . . . Continue Reading »

How to Invent New Rights

Late in November, the Women’s and Gender Equality Committee of the European Parliament gave its stamp of approval to the Estrela Report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. (Yes, there are acronyms for all of that.) On Tuesday, December 10th, the Report was (again) put before a plenary session of the Parliament for a vote. To be fair, some changes had been made . . . Continue Reading »

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