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The debate over euthanasia and assisted suicide is often presented as a debate about compassion. Who, after all, wants people to suffer? Who wants the elderly, the disabled, the terminally ill, or the mentally anguished to endure pain without help? The language is powerful because it touches somethi...

When ChatGPT first hit mainstream markets in 2022, it was the artists who began warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence. There is something about artists—whether painter, sculptor, graphic designer, iconographer, poet, writer, photographer, and others—being more in tune with reality at...

A couple years ago I bought a manual typewriter. I was in a slump in my writing and seeking some kind of creative, esoteric reboot, I suppose. There were things I wanted to write that I didn’t necessarily want online, or on the nebulous Cloud, or even on a hard drive, and so I thought perhaps going...

Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples on a missionary journey, granting them significant spiritual authority.  Wasn’t that risky? Gospel (Read Lk. 10:1-12, 17-20) As Jesus traveled to Jerusalem from Galilee for the last time, St. Luke tells us He commissioned seventy-two disciples “whom He sent ahea...

In the mountain-town of Emmitsburg, Maryland, there is a historic school unfamiliar to most Americans. Its founding in 1808 is a direct consequence of 1776. Its founder, Fr. John Dubois, was mentored by James Monroe and Patrick Henry to unleash a new birth of freedom in a country weary from a long t...

On July 4, 1776, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence. Both had worked hard together in producing it. Subsequently, Adams became the second American president while Jefferson followed him as the young country’s third. Both had a high regard for the Bible. “It is the...

Image: Saint Thomas | Georges de La Tour Saint of the Day for July 3 (1st Century – December 21, 72) Saint Thomas’ Story Poor Saint Thomas! He made one remark and has been branded as “Doubting Thomas” ever since. But if he doubted, he also believed. He made what is certainly the most explicit statem...

Image: Oliver Plunkett | Edward Luttrell Saint of the Day for July 2 (November 1, 1629 – July 1, 1681) Saint Oliver Plunkett’s Story The name of today’s saint is especially familiar to the Irish and the English—and with good reason. The English martyred Oliver Plunkett for defending the faith in his...

A statue of St. Junipero Serra sits among flowers outside San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Mission in Carmel, Calif. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec) Saint of the Day for July 1 (November 24, 1713 – August 28, 1784) Saint Junipero Serra’s Story In 1776, when the American Revolution was beginning in the east,...

Image: Christian heroes and martyrs | William A. Foster | The Library of Congress Saint of the Day for June 30 (d. 64) First Martyrs of the Church of Rome’s Story There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death of Jesus, though they were not the converts of the “Apostle of t...