As any honest teacher will tell you, learning is difficult. However, teachers may only admit this truth when no one else is around. Such disclosures clash with the prevailing educational orthodoxy. In addition, learning difficulties are likely to be blamed on teachers, who thus make themselves targets. Therefore, making it easy to … Read more
It is official; the national debt has now exceeded $21 trillion. The tragic news comes just six months after it hit $20 trillion last September 8. This problem is obviously not going away. By voting to suspend the debt ceiling, Congress has allowed the government to borrow as much as it needs until … Read more
Perhaps it is best to start by saying there is no ideal presidential candidate now running in the race in either party. None of them has all the qualities that are presently needed, although some candidates may have a few of them. No candidate is proportional to the crisis that is coming. … Read more
It is no secret that middle-class Americans are angry at the government and the general state of things. The so-called anti-establishment candidates appear to be channeling that rage to their camps. It is a raw undefined rage that is based more on frustrations and emotions than on concrete facts or convictions. People … Read more
Magnificent medieval stained glass windows have sometimes been referred to as a “catechism in glass” because of the richness of the faith which their imagery conveyed. We could say the statues of this time period aptly captured the virtues of the holy personages. When done well they are, in their turn, truly … Read more
Speaking with a friend recently, we chanced to talk about money and coins. He is a coin collector and had just visited a coin shop nearby. I mentioned my own studies of medieval economy and its coinage. Much to my surprise and delight, he reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled … Read more
Saint John Bosco, also known as Don Bosco, a Confessor and given the title of “Father and Teacher of Youth” by Pope Pius XI, grew up in a poor household, but one sanctified by a spirit of selflessness and sacrifice. This helped form him not only into a physically very strong young … Read more
Your college experience may be characterized by the desire to look beyond your origins and explore the world with grand adventures. There is certainly nothing wrong in venturing out and embracing what the world has to offer. There is a temptation to be avoided, however: to think you acquire “culture” or sophistication … Read more
“I know what this is all about! I can see it from the title!” some reader might say. Let those readers who are hostile to pomp in Church liturgy get ready for a surprise: Saint Francis advocates precisely the opposite, and how emphatically! You don’t have to take my word for it. … Read more
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Pauperist Heresies Heresies requiring material poverty for eternal salvation have sprung up since the dawn of Christianity. Here we refer more particularly to medieval miserabilists. Under the influence of the Cathars or Albigensians, who adopted the Manichean principle that … Read more