The Sham Practice of Christmas
Haley Stewart, writer, speaker, and podcaster looks to Josef Pieper and Charles Dickens to critique the hyper-commercialization of the Christmas season.
Articles » Catechesis
Hildegard of Bingen's Vital Contribution to the Concept of Woman
Abigail Favale, George Fox U. Penn Honors Program Director, surveys Sr. Allen's magisterial "The Concept of Woman" with a focus on gender complementarity.
The Virgin Mary as “Eternal Woman”
Ann Astell, ND Professor of Theology, revisits Getrud von Le Fort's theology of femininity in light of Prudence Allen's Concept of Woman.
Advocata Nostra and the Devil's Due
Stephen Metzger, PhD ND Medieval Institute, investigates the meaning and purpose of calling the Blessed Virgin Mary our advocate, especially during Advent.
Solovyov's Russia and the Catholic Church
Andrew Kuiper, writer and editor, recalls the great ecumenical effort of Vladimir Solovyov and its continued fruits.
Dignity or Victimhood?
Abigail Favale, George Fox University Director of the William Penn Honors Program, examines to what extent victimhood culture should be adopted by Christians.
Why Is Christian Citizenship a Paradox?
Émilie Tardivel-Schick, Institut Catholique de Paris Director of the Chair of the Common Good, outlines the political theology of Paul and the Early Fathers.
Discipleship Isn't as Exciting as Youth Ministry Makes It Seem
Timothy O'Malley, Director ND Center for Liturgy, analyzes how youth ministry programs can avoid the inevitable burnout caused by current emotive models.
The Roman Church as Casta Meretrix
Gary A. Anderson, ND Hesburgh Professor of Theology, discusses the applicability of a certain biblical metaphor and its reception history to the abuse crisis.
Salvation: More Than a Cliché?
Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Emeritus and theologian, asks whether in our times the word "salvation" has been emptied out of all meaning.
What Did Pope Francis Mean to Say with His Strange Abuse Crisis Letter?
Jonathan Heaps, theologian and recent convert to Catholicism, struggles to understand what Pope Francis is trying to say in his letter on the abuse crisis.
Are Our Children Seeing Jesus?
Brad Klingele, eighth grade teacher, writes about teaching children (and ourselves) to see Our Lord and Savior who is doubly-hidden in modern societies.
The Strange Myths of the New Evangelization
Mark Giszczak, Augustine Institute Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture, uses hard data to unmask the myth of Catholic decline in the United States.
The Importance of Geographic Stability for the Church
Gwendolen Adams, PhD (Catholic Studies, Maryvale Institute) draws on Alsadair MacIntyre and sociological data to argue for stability's evangelizing value.
Where Does the Ministry End and the Apostolate Begin?
Peter Andrastek, Senior Consultant for The Evangelical Catholic, clarifies how and why the ministry and the apostolate should work together instead of competing.
Good Friday: Creation Always Exists in Darkness
Domenic Canonico, MTS student at the University of Notre Dame, contemplates the Trinity through William Congdon's depiction of Good Friday's sublime suffering.
Death Clarifies What We Love
Gregory Floyd, who teaches in the Core Program at Seton Hall, considers a kind of theology that is not written in words, but written in lives.
Can Catholicism Still Draw from Ecumenism's Wells?
Kimberly Belcher, Notre Dame Assistant Professor of Theology, suggests how ecumenism can make Catholics both more Catholic and catholic.
Epiphany: It's Foolish to Pretend It's Easy to Remember the Poor
John Michael Hogue, ND theology major and Church Life Intern at the McGrath Institute for Church Life, on the Epiphany and the difficulty of gift-giving.
Am I the Mother of Christ?
John Cavadini tries to imagine what Isaac of Stella means by giving birth to Christ.
The Last Judgment Is the Real Reason for Advent
Fr. Peter Nguyen reminds us Christmas celebrates the First Coming of Christ and Advent the Second Coming.
The Options for Identity-Discernment in a Secular Age
Robert Aaron Wessman, Roman Catholic priest and member of the Glenmary Home Missioners, takes an honest look at how to speak to Millennials, not at them.
Beauty Already Has Saved the World
St. Paul concludes his letter to the Philippians with an exhortation: Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and...
"You can eat with us": On Poverty and Community
Twenty years ago, I asked Paul, the tall, burly, blunt, and opinionated leader of the Catholic soup kitchen, if I could take my youth group to serve dinner. “Nope!” he barked. Startled, I squeaked out, “Um, why?” ...
Does a Catholic School Evangelize?
Our weekly post describing what you'll find in this week's Church Life. Celebrating Catholic Schools week, Church Life will ask this week: does a Catholic school evangelize?
The Virgin of Guadalupe and the Season of Advent
For some Christian people throughout the world, especially Mexican and Mexican-American Christians, December 12, of course, is the celebration of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. The feast commemorates her December 9–12, 1531 appearan...
The Politics of the Saints
On this feast of All Saints Day, we remember that the saints present to us a politics of praise that are the ultimate vocation of the human being.
The Word Made Beautiful: The Saint John's Bible
A few years ago the McGrath Institute for Church Life welcomed Donald Jackson, the visionary calligrapher commissioned by St. John’s University in Collegeville to create a hand-written illuminated Bible using techniques that date b...
Asceticism as Healing Art
Healing takes many different forms because it is a response to many different kinds of threats. A cut and a broken leg are each healed differently because the damage is different; nevertheless, the same end is sought in both cases. The r...
