Jupiter, Melchizedek, and the Christian Virtue of Being Jovial“Instead of being grave and mysterious like most Calormenes, they walked with a swing and let their arms and shoulders go free, and chatted…Feb 171Feb 171
“I Won’t Let Go Unless You Bless Me”Observations from Jordan Peterson’s “We Who Wrestle With God” TourJun 5, 20241Jun 5, 20241
Movie Review: Cabrini — Feminine Strength or Tired Cliche?“I’m a woman, and an Italian!” the petite nun yells up at the American man from the prosecutor’s office before storming out. It is from…May 18, 2024May 18, 2024
Do you Remember it All Too Well? What a Priest and Artist could Teach Pop Singers about NostalgiaIn their dialogue “The Meaning of Birth” Fr. Guissani and Giovanni Testori say “man does not kill himself from absence; he kills himself…Feb 17, 2024Feb 17, 2024
They’re Killing the Mockingbirds. What Are We Doing About It?“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they…Apr 1, 2023Apr 1, 2023
When the Church is “too fleshy” for an AdultererGraham Greene’s “The End of the Affair”Feb 24, 2023Feb 24, 2023
The Dishonesty of Despair: Reflections on “The Sunset Limited”I recently watched the HBO version of Cormac McCarthy’s play The Sunset Limited. Similar to Twelve Angry Men or Lifespan of a Fact,the play…Jan 19, 20231Jan 19, 20231
Why Real Adults Wonder if There are Sheep on AsteroidsI first read The Little Prince at the end of high school and was unmoved, although I think pronounced it “charming.” At eighteen I was busy…Sep 17, 2022Sep 17, 2022
Can I laugh a lot and still be holy? Some Thoughts on St. Edith Stein’s “The Science of the Cross”“In Port William, more than anyplace else I had been, this religion that scorned the beauty and goodness of this world was a puzzle to me…Aug 27, 20221Aug 27, 20221
How does the “boy” grow up in a pressure machine?Thoughts on The Killer’s latest soAug 20, 2022Aug 20, 2022
Christ Reenters the Desert in Plutenko’s PaintingThe closest place to a desert I remember visiting is Jockey’s Ridge in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If you stand in the middle…Aug 15, 2022Aug 15, 2022
You’re [Probably] Living LiturgicallyHumans fall naturally into ritual. Morning coffee. Weekly happy hour. “Self-care days.” Christmas. New Year’s. We are created in and bound…Aug 13, 2022Aug 13, 2022
The Gnomes that Marched for Polish FreedomYour eyes open in a slow squint as you come to consciousness under a harsh fluorescent light. As your vision adjusts, you see a grey cell…Aug 5, 2022Aug 5, 2022
“And the Fire and the Rose are One”: Shared Imagery in Dante and T.S Eliot, Pt. 3T.S Eliot imbues his poetry with a sense of longing for lost beauty. He describes an abandoned rose garden.Aug 2, 20221Aug 2, 20221
Hell is Frigid and Heaven on Fire: Shared Imagery in Dante and T.S Eliot, Pt. 2Both Dante and Eliot use fiery imagery to as a symbol of passion, but the context and effect of fire differs between poems — sometimes…Jul 30, 2022Jul 30, 2022
Windswept Commuters and Dancing Stars: Shared Imagery in Dante and T.S Eliot, Pt. 1In the early fourteenth century Dante Alighieri described himself having a mid-life crisis and taking a quest through Hell, Purgatory, and…Jul 29, 2022Jul 29, 2022
Why Parties are Essential to ChristianityIn For the Life of the World Alexander Schmemann writes that food is central to human identity. Adam and Eve were placed in a garden and…Jul 28, 2022Jul 28, 2022
Searching for God in “West Hills”“West Hills” from The Killers’ 2021 album “Pressure Machine” is sung with the swelling ache of the unresolved tensions between individual…Jul 24, 20221Jul 24, 20221
When the Dragon Kills the PrincessWe all know the classic fairy-tale formula: the fire-eating dragon captures the princess. The knight — eager to prove himself and usually…Jul 13, 20221Jul 13, 20221
