By Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing – Whether the Evil One is operative in many of the current approaches to Scripture – in university departments and some Church circles – is a question best left to true authorities and even exorcists. But there’s no question that the people who wrote Final Report of Study Group Number 9: Theological Criteria and Synodal Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues, which appeared just last week, were engaged in serial Scriptural abuse. …

By Mary Rose, Zeale News – The White House released a sweeping new counterterrorism strategy that calls for “the rapid identification and neutralization” of violent extremist domestic political groups, especially those it describes as anti-American, anarchist, and radically pro-transgender.

By Father Jerry J. Pokorsky, Catholic World Report – When life is separated from Christ, it does not become freer or fuller—it becomes spiritually unfruitful. We lose the life of His saving grace… Jesus makes it clear that there is a distinct relationship between love, keeping His commandments, and bearing fruit. God’s law, authentic Christian love, and life in abundance are inseparable. The unity helps us reject popular cultural patterns with false promises of fulfillment….

By Shawn Fleetwood, The Federalist – Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito had some choice words for their Supreme Court colleagues on Thursday over their “remarkable” decision “undermin[ing]” the court’s historic Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade…. The stinging rebukes came in an order the high court handed down to temporarily pause an appellate court ruling that halted a Biden-era FDA rule allowing the mailing of mifepristone to women without an in-person doctor visit. …

By Nancy Flanders, Live Action – The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on May 14 stating that the abortion pill can continue to be dispensed through the mail as Louisiana’s lawsuit proceeds… Following the filing of a lawsuit by the State of Louisiana that sought to reverse the FDA’s 2023 changes to abortion pill regulations, the Fifth Circuit paused mail order dispensing… The abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories filed an emergency application before the Supreme Court on May 2, requesting a stay be placed on the Fifth Circuit’s decision. …

By Gayle Somers, Catholic Exchange – Ascension Sunday presents a paradox:  Jesus leaves His apostles for Heaven, but He assures them He is always with them.  What kind of departure was this?… Gospel (Read Mt. 28:16-20) … Sunday’s Gospel records the end of Jesus’ forty days of post-Resurrection appearances and teaching.  The account of what actually happened during those days is quite spare. 

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine – The Final Report of Study Group 9 of the Synod on Synodality is a jaw-droping attack on Scripture and everything that the Church has ever taught concerning sodomy… Is sodomy no longer a sin? Are instances of same-sex attraction among those inclined to commit it no longer to be viewed as a disorder? Will the sacrament of marriage soon be administered to couples in committed homosexual relationships?… Has the Church, in other words, changed her mind on the subject of sexual perversion, no longer insisting sodomites cease and desist from a practice that, until quite recently, she had unequivocally condemned?

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Many faithful Catholics were shocked last week when a Vatican document quoted a man who proclaimed his homosexual inclination a “gift from God.” They were shocked again when they learned that the pop song “Dancing Queen”—widely recognized as a “gay anthem”—had been played by a visiting band at the Pope’s weekly public audience.

By Josh Hammer, The American Spectator – Because of the breadth and depth of its impact and lasting influence, the Divine Revelation at Sinai was the logical starting point for what we now call Western civilization. Writing thousands of years later at another inflection point in human history, Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 31: “In disquisitions of every kind, there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasonings must depend.” In the United States specifically, and in Western civilization more generally, it was long obvious what those “primary truths” and “first principles” actually meant: the Word of God Himself.

By Edward Pentin, National Catholic  Register – The final report of the Synod on Synodality’s Study Group 9 has drawn widespread criticism since its publication last week — not least for what its authors wrote about Courage International… A respected and canonically approved Catholic apostolate, since 1980 Courage International has been providing spiritual support to men and women experiencing same-sex attractions who wish to live chastely according to Church teaching. …

By Gregory Lyakhov, Patriot Post – The perception of neutrality can be far more influential because most Americans still fail to recognize the political slant that shapes coverage… For years, conservatives have operated under a fairly obvious assumption: mainstream media institutions are hostile to Donald Trump and, more broadly, hostile to right-leaning political movements… At this point, that observation is not particularly controversial. …

By David G Bonagura, Jr., The Catholic Thing – Mother Church is still celebrating the record number of converts who were  received into her family at Easter. Her task now, like that of all mothers, is to nourish her children so they grow in wisdom, age, and grace before God and man. As mothers with adult children know well, this task has no expiration date: the Church dispenses the gifts of salvation to each child until his final breath.

By Gigi Duncan, National Catholic Register – When a newly ordained priest celebrates his first Mass, one of his final gestures is often not toward the congregation, but toward his mother… In his hands is a simple strip of linen — a manutergium, used days earlier at his ordination to wipe the sacred chrism oil from his newly anointed hands. At the end of the Mass, he places it in her hands, entrusting her with a quiet but profound symbol of his vocation: one she will carry, by tradition, to the grave. …

By Arthur Schaper, American Greatness – The Dignity Act is amnesty dressed up as enforcement, proving once again that too many in Congress still value cheap labor over America’s borders, laws, and sovereignty… The DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act is all the indignant rage on Capitol Hill. It’s another immigration bill, putting out legal status for those in the country illegally, provided that they work and pay taxes.

By David Catron, The American Spectator – Probably the best description from a constitutional scholar on this failed Democrat gerrymandering scheme was offered by Jonathan Turley who wrote, “Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the Democratic establishment … tossed aside any pretense of principle in a raw political gambit. The resulting faceplant is nothing short of legendary: Spanberger’s Democrats have succeeded in alienating half of the state.”