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In 1974, Catholic Schools Week was established as the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. This year it occurs from January 27 to February 2. Its theme is “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.”
Category: Columns
Young Jesuits, justice, and evangelization
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While I was in Chicago for the Christmas break, I had a wonderful meeting with around 30 young Jesuits, all in their “pre-tertianship” period of formation. This means that these men had already passed through their lengthy education in philosophy and theology and had been involved for some time in a ministry of the Jesuit order.
The group I addressed included high school teachers, university professors, journal editors, and doctoral students — and almost all of them were ordained priests. After a simple lunch of soup and sandwiches, we plunged into conversation.
Celebrating Catholic schools
Happy Catholic Schools Week! This coming Sunday marks the beginning of a national, week-long celebration of Catholic schools.
In the Diocese of Madison, each one of the 43 Catholic elementary and high schools will be celebrating their students, teachers, parents, and all of the incredible success and achievements of their students as they learn and grow academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
Roe v. Wade and the damage done by abortion
In his speech to Catholic health care professionals and gynecologists on September 20, 2013, Pope Francis said, “Every child who is condemned unjustly to being aborted bears the face of Christ, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection.
Foiling Spinoza as path to evangelization
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During this Christmas holiday, I’ve been reading Anthony Gottlieb’s breezy and enjoyable history of modern philosophy, entitled The Dream of Enlightenment.
Throughout his treatment of such figures as Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, and Voltaire, Gottlieb reveals his own rather strong bias in favor of the rationalism and anti-supernaturalism advocated by these avatars of modern thought.
Christmas: The gift of tender particularity
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Following is the homily at the Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael in Madison given at Christmas Midnight Mass by Msgr. James Bartylla, diocesan administrator.
There is often an accusation made against Christianity that is called the “Scandal of Particularity”. In its essence, it emphasizes the difficulty of believing a single man (Jesus) could be the Savior of all mankind and the only way to the Father.
It argues that it is “unreasonable” or “fanciful” to believe in this salvific universality of Jesus Christ. After all, he was born in Bethlehem, during a census by Caesar Augustus, under the governorship of Quirinius, and raised in Nazareth? How could the Savior of the whole world, including Rome, Greece, Persia, and Africa, and for all time, be from little Bethlehem?
Good politics is at the service of peace, says pope
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As the saying goes, “Politics and religion don’t mix.” Although this cliché is espoused by many, you will not hear it from Pope Francis.
On the contrary, the leader of the Catholic Church firmly teaches that our Gospel-based faith has a wealth of wisdom to offer the often corrupt world of politics. And that it is our duty to strive to infuse that wisdom into the body politic.
Importance of hospitality, community especially today
Just before the New Year, our house looked similar to many other homes.
Christmas lights decorated the tree in our living room. Children were busy with new toys and games. Cookies and other goodies often made their way into little searching hands and mouths.
Mulling over Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris
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Over the Christmas break, I spent a fair amount of time binge-watching Jordan Peterson videos. For those not in the know, Peterson is not the latest hip-hop sensation. He is a psychology professor from Toronto who has made a rather substantial splash as a culture-commentator and public intellectual, largely through appearances on social media.
Being ‘nice’ is not the point of Christianity
Many atheists and agnostics today insistently argue that it is altogether possible for non-believers in God to be morally upright. They resent the implication that the denial of God will lead inevitably to complete ethical relativism or nihilism.