Archive
More than thirty years of First Things articles at your fingertips.
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Articles
The Nun from Nigeria Sits Next to Me at the College Jazz Concert
Face blank as absolution, from this back rowshe stares straight ahead to the small raised stageof touring...
Anniversary
This second circle—coming back againto the coming back—the sweeping dial of days; where all time’s whats and whys and whens click clockwise on your face, or mine. Beginagain the...
Parable
“Virtue! a fig! ’tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus.Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our willsare gardeners.” —Othello, William Shakespeare “Virtue! A fig!” We...
Laundry List
“The ordinary acts we practice every dayat home are of more importance to the soulthan their simplicity might suggest.” —St. Thomas More Shake out doubt.Sliced mustard seedsgather in creases...
The Joke around the Water Cooler and Other Dilemmas
Let us nail ourselves to him, resistingthe temptation to stand apart or to joinothers in mocking him.” —Pope Benedict XVI Let us nail ourselves to him and resisttemptation’s lure...
Lower Higher Ed
Here God gums up in the mouth, won’t spit itself out with every easy expletive, leaving the discussion free for disagreement. Harder to digest than politically correct sex, shit,...
The Episcopal Priest Cleans Out His Office
After the years of tear-drying and tissue-passing, the closed-door conferences above reproach and beyond remembrance, he packs files of sermons, reread books, thank-you notes and complaints, receipts from now-broken...
All Saints’ Day
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All Souls’ Day
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Monthly Communion
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Alexius and Giles
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Valentines
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Feet
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The Third Day of Christmas
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“Dread is the Language by Which We Disguise Our Deeds”
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