Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may spring up, and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also; I the Lord have created it (Isaiah 45:8). Christmas can seem so quaint: bells, tinsel, fake snow, not to mention goofy elves and other unmentionable accretions. We can l...

Fr. Timothy Combs, O.P. As Americans, we believe the State must maintain a certain neutrality regarding denominational creeds, and rightly so. The absence of an official state church—in keeping with the Constitution’s establishment clause—is a hallmark of civic life in the U.S. However wise this may be (when rightly understood), this princ...

Is Capitalism Wrong For Men? The Catholic intellectual corners of the internet and social media have been abuzz lately with reaction and commentary after a group of self-identified Catholic socialists calling themselves the “Tradinista!” posted a 20-point manifesto on their website. Many in the Catholic blogosphere and widely-read online jou...

This article has been submitted by guest contributor, Mr. Sean Mitchell. John Adams famously said that “our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  If we wish to to have any substantial hope for our nation’s future, we must believe these words with deep convict...

This summer has been marked by violence, particularly violence by and against police officers.  Perhaps most shocking was shooting of police officers at the Black Lives Matter march on July 7 in Dallas, Texas.  There a gunman took advantage of a peaceful protest and polluted it with innocent blood.  The shock is overwhelming, and it will be some...

Every man is a student of history.  History is more than a mere repetition of names and dates, a catalog of inventions, facts, and figures.  History is not the death toll of a battle, nor is it the length of a ruler’s reign.  History is a story; a woven fabric of lives and events, of men and women doing what men and women do.  All of those as...

Being the members of a minority group, the early Christians were focused on evangelization and the salvation of souls. It took generations for the Church to meditate on the proper relation of Christians in various states of life to the broader world. In the first flush of the early Church one would expect to see evidence of a radical living out of ...

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” (Ps 144:1). The story of the chosen people was one of near constant conflict, usually against stronger neighbors. Constantly menaced by large empires, the Hebrews struggled and endured. It seemed they were always a target, for their promised land was situated...

As members of a 2,000 year old church, we often find ourselves apologizing for mistakes of the past. For example, how often do we find ourselves apologizing for the Inquisition? Don’t worry, we want to say, we’re not like that anymore. We see the inquisitors as awkward uncles at family reunions; we distance ourselves from them. We accept the st...