Jeanie Hannaman

By Regis Martin, Crisis Magazine - Not the least of the many astonishing things to be said about Augustine is the fact that it should have taken him nine years before he finally broke free of the Manichean chains that bound him. No less astonishing, of course, is the fact that it took less than a minute after hearing the singsong voice of the little child telling him to “Take it and read, take it and read” to turn his life completely around for the sake of Christ and His Church.

By David G Bonagura, Jr., The Catholic Thing - “Drain the swamp!” is one of today’s more passionate political cries. The swamp, of course, is Washington, D.C., which oozes all sorts of contaminations: slimy politicians, rancid deals, foggy lies, sink-holes of money, hazy procedures. The people demand a champion, a DOGE, to clean it up: to drain its political and social sins so the government can function smoothly, and America can be great again... “Swamp theory” assumes that the governmental system is broken and that a properly functioning reform will bring in a kind of  political salvation. There is some truth in this contention, but Catholics must avoid seeing “the system,” and not sinful individuals, as the real problem.