By Derek Rotty, Catholic Exchange – These are contingencies of contentment, statements we make thinking of the possibility of happiness and joy. For most of our lives, so far as we can remember, a seemingly infinite litany of these statements infiltrates our thoughts and desires. Many, if not most, of us exhibit a proclivity to not being or remaining content, because, you know, “the grass is always greener.” But how do these contingencies affect our interior spiritual lives,

By Elizabeth Weiss, Zeale – Catholics gather in protest against a Satanic-themed circus event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Sept. 20, 2024. (American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property website)… The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), is sponsoring a rosary rally in reparation for a May 1 Satanic Temple event in Baltimore, where attendees are “required to surrender their souls to Satan.”

By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing – Rome, if not quite the “Eternal City,” is nearly 2,800 years old and counting. I first encountered it in the 1970s, visiting my wife’s uncle, a priest who served in the Congregation (now the Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith. What I remember most vividly from those few days is a Fellini-esque evening performance of the opera Aida with live elephants in the Baths of Caracalla, followed by a hair-raising drive home through Roman traffic.

By Raymond B. Marcin, Complicit Clergy – First of all, what is the heresy of Modernism? Modernism in Catholic theological doctrine is indeed a heresy—a heresy that progressive-minded Catholics often dally with, and that tradition-minded Catholics have always avoided like the plague… Modernism was present in our Church for a long time before Pope Saint Pius X officially named and condemned it as a heresy in 1907.[1] Its presence in the Church had grown significantly during the 19th century and into the early 20th. …

by Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – When I moved back to my native Boston area as an adult with a young family, we found a home just a couple of blocks from the house where I had lived as a child—and where my parents still lived. The proximity to the children’s grandparents was a bonus, but the house was perfect in several other respects. It was in a nice neighborhood, which I knew well. The town was adjacent to the city, and my downtown office was a quick train ride away. …

By Carole Novielli, Live Action News – As Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz has announced a 50-state audit of Medicaid — calling on governors and state Medicaid directors to help “fight the War on Fraud” — perhaps states might want to consider taking a good, hard look at Planned Parenthood… Oz suggests that states should “revalidate” any “Medicaid providers of services at high risk of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption.”

By Kennedy Hall, Crisis Magazine – I must confess that I have never written a letter to the pope before, and I ask your forgiveness if I fail to observe the proper forms of address. I assure you it is innocent ignorance, not malice… First, I want to thank you for accepting the call to be pope. It is not a role I would want for myself. It is the most important office in the world—humanly speaking, the most consequential position of authority in all of human history. There is no higher office, no greater dignity, no position a man can hold which more powerfully demonstrates the authority of Christ our King on earth. …

By Donald Devine, The American Spectator – It takes a serious intellectual to confront the fundamental questions. The number one problem today, Michael Lucchese has argued, is our “inability to connect the case for liberty to a larger, transcendent vision of life’s ultimate purpose.” The “liberal spirit of toleration” necessary for liberty, which “the West cultivated for 250 years or more,” is now so weakened that it seems Alexis de Tocqueville’s “darkest prophecies” for freedom’s future are coming true.

By John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist -The theological fault lines that divide America’s 50 million or so Catholics from its roughly 130 million Protestants have been largely set aside when it comes to politics in the Trump era, if only because most practicing Christians in the United States understand they have a common foe in the secular left. When Democrats are openly trying to drive all forms of Christian piety from the public square and impose what amounts to a neopagan morality, it tends to focus one’s attention on the near enemy.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 6:52-59 – 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. …

By Paul Birch, European Conservative – It’s that most wonderful time of the year. April 23rd: St. George’s Day. A time to commemorate England’s patron saint and celebrate what England and the English have given the world (apart from constant apologies). Extraordinary and lasting contributions across science, technology, culture, sport, language and governance, with the nation itself often acting as a catalyst for modernisation and global connectivity.

By Father Nicola Bux, Edward Pentin’s Substack – “Christ did not waste time criticising the Roman Empire, but founded the Church” — T.S. Eliot, Choruses from The Rock… Popes from John XXIII to Leo XIV have, in different ways, separated the question of peace from the concrete reality of the Church; as a result, their appeals for peace risk becoming utopian — aspirations that lack the means necessary for their fulfilment… This separation appears when peace is framed primarily as a political or humanitarian goal: ending wars, encouraging dialogue, and fostering cooperation among nations. These aims are good, but when they are presented without reference to the Church’s essential mission — the conversion of persons and peoples to Christ — they lose their foundation. …

By David Warren, The Catholic Thing – The pope may be many things in many contexts, but he should avoid becoming a shill for the Democratic Party. This is how he came across when he delivered a political statement just after he had been visited by David Axelrod, Obama’s behind-the-scenes heavy… The effect was redoubled when leading liberal Cardinals, including Chicago’s Blase Cupich, put on a media floorshow to promote the pope’s  “message to America.” It was prattle we had heard many times before, from nice, peaceful politicians like Jimmy Carter: peace-not-war, appeasement, and negotiation at any price. …

By Brian Flood, Fox News – “60 Minutes” teed up a trio of progressive American cardinals to discuss how Pope Leo XIV and the church have emerged as a voice of opposition to the war with Iran and President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in a segment that aired last week… “Liberal TV networks find organized religion useful only so much as it helps sell the liberal view. They want to add the moral authority of organized religion to their viewpoint,” Media Research Center executive editor Tim Graham told Fox News Digital.

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 6:44-51 – 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. …