Commentary “I swear there ain’t no heaven but I pray there ain’t no hell.” — Laura Nyro, “And When I Die” There is an oft-asserted notion that the God of the Old Testament is a dark, unforgiving and rather insecure entity. Atheists and others who argue for that false understanding tend to round it out […]
Elizabeth Scalia: Fasts of old remain fond memories
Commentary It’s OK, we can say it (you know it, and I know it): Compared to our Orthodox brethren and our Muslim friends, the Catholic idea of required fasting is — let me be diplomatic here — not terribly impressive. The Orthodox start fasting before Lent even begins, adapting a restrictive, very nearly vegan diet […]
Elizabeth Scalia: Funeral list offers loved ones a guide
Commentary At the end of 2023, I published my “Catholic Wish List” for 2024, laying out some hopes for the church that seemed, if not “easy,” then at least reasonable and doable for the truly motivated. Readers said they shared my hopes but believed I was indulging a pipe dream. Well, as 2024 closes, we […]
Elizabeth Scalia: Don’t forget women in lay ministries
Commentary “I’ll be with you in a minute, Mr. Peabody!” That’s the line Cary Grant shouts repeatedly at a philanthropist he is about to meet in the 1938 screwball comedy “Bringing Up Baby.” Grant, who plays David Huxley, a paleontologist, is hoping to schmooze a bit of museum funding from Mr. Peabody over 18 holes, […]
Elizabeth Scalia: Don’t be afraid to say something
Commentary Touching on an incident where a priest hearing confessions was pepper-sprayed, a recent article from OSV News looked at how clergy and layfolk might balance security with welcome and worship. It is an uncomfortable subject. While staffers at weekend Mass in one North Carolina parish include armed off-duty police officers, many Catholics may balk […]
Elizabeth Scalia: To mark ‘Year of Prayer,’ practice often
Commentary Recently I shared on social media that for Lent, and for the “Year of Prayer,” I was committing to memory a version of the Breastplate of St. Patrick. It is a powerful confession of belief that includes a rather comprehensive request for supernatural protections. It also beautifully seeks out the permeating presence of Jesus […]
Elizabeth Scalia: Remember prayer comes in many forms
Commentary St. Philip Neri once had a penitent confess to indulging in gossip. He advised the contrite soul to bring him a chicken, and to pluck its feathers as he walked the streets of Rome. When the man showed up with the chicken, his penance fulfilled, the great saint told him, “Now, brother, gather up […]
Elizabeth Scalia: Yes, ‘accompaniment’ is going to get messy
COMMENTARY It’s not an easy discussion but it’s one Catholics should have. The United States just watched an abortion drama in Texas that ended when 31 year-old Kate Cox, then over 20 weeks pregnant, left the state in order to procure a legal abortion. The Texas Supreme Court had ruled that Cox and her […]
Elizabeth Scalia: When the holy water fonts are dry
COMMENTARY In chapter 31 of her autobiography, the 16th- century Carmelite St. Teresa of Avila — one of four female doctors of the church, including her spiritual daughter, St. Thérèse of Lisieux — urges us toward frequent use of one particular, very common and (usually) widely available sacramental. “From long experience I have learned […]
Elizabeth Scalia: Reading aloud to another
COMMENTARY In Harper Lee’s classic novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” there is a point where Atticus Finch, seeking to teach his son about making reparation for damaging another’s property (and about something else, too) orders his young son Jem to visit the bedside of sickly old Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose and read aloud to her. […]