Br. Michael Baggot

A seventh-grader recently asked me how to respond to his peer’s obstinate claim that he and the rest of his Catholic co-religionists are just as bad as ISIS. Continue Reading »

Tomorrow I return to Rome for my final year of theological studies before ordination. I have been privileged to journey between the ancient Caput Mundi and the contemporary Capital of the World. Continue Reading »

The September 14 liturgical feast of the Triumph of the Cross celebrates a radical revolution in our approach to human debility. The lame, the disfigured, the abandoned are no longer burdens upon society’s limited resources, doomed to a frustrated existence. Instead, they can clutch the cross that recalls the one who knows their woes and gives meaning to their anguish. Continue Reading »

Those of us who aspire to transform the public square with some fraction of St. Teresa’s success would do well to imitate first her unyielding attention to divine communion and spiritual discernment of the signs of the times. Continue Reading »

Surveying the Pope Emeritus’s life and works, it is difficult to think of any other Catholic thinker who so profoundly shaped the Church’s theology since the Second Vatican Council. The heroic diligence, courage, and humility with which he exercised his pastoral vocation indicates that sanctity infused the actions of an intellectual giant worthy of the title Doctor of the Church. Continue Reading »

The ancient monks’ most glorious libraries contained less information than the average smartphone. But their habits of receptivity and assimilation can empower us to lift our gaze from our screens ennobled rather than enslaved. Continue Reading »

A personal relationship with God was indispensable for navigating our troubled world, she insisted. She did not, however, want to petrify this relationship into cold ritual. Continue Reading »

A millennial recently bragged to my friend that he no longer has much reason to leave the comfort of his basement office. There, he enjoys a tri-screen computer setup and can simultaneously manage his business, view porn, and compete in online gaming tournaments from a single cushioned reclining chair. Continue Reading »

No matter the reaction or the summer heat, I have never regretted wearing clerical garb publicly. Continue Reading »

Cardinal Sarah’s ad orientem advocacy liberates the priest from the constant pressure to perform as the main attraction. Continue Reading »