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Faithful and Invisible

On December 18, 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which granted permission for Catholic priests to bestow blessings upon couples in “irregular situations” and same-sex couples. Discussions surrounding the meaning and implications of . . . . Continue Reading »

The New Midlife Crisis

Check all the boxes, then chuck it all aside at forty to follow your muse. Play by the rules and win, only to decide that you don’t want the prize. Most of the rebellions were minor. The devoted housewife informed her husband that she would not be cooking dinner for the family on Tuesday and . . . . Continue Reading »

Hope for the Organization Kid

Twenty-three years ago, David Brooks published in The Atlantic a long essay based on interviews with Princeton undergraduates. He found the students busy: overscheduled, achievement-oriented models of meritocratic success. They were “extraordinarily bright, morally earnest, and . . . . Continue Reading »

Renewing the Covenant

Good news, fellow Americans: It’s civil war time! The violence, praise the Lord, unfurls exclusively on the silver screen, where the tortured protagonists of Alex Garland’s new blockbuster—unimprovably named Civil War—watch America being torn apart in a hail of bullets. Who’s . . . . Continue Reading »

The Last Sanctuary

During my first year in medical practice, some of the older doctors criticized me for not wearing a tie to the hospital. “What’s the point?” I shot back. “I just change into scrubs anyhow.” But it was 1989, and the older doctors made me fall into line. Around the same time, the hospital . . . . Continue Reading »

Theology of Immigration

Speaking to a gymnasium full of high schoolers in 2015, Angela Merkel sought to explain why Germany needed to close its borders to the tide of Syrian refugees. She was brought up short by Reem Sahwil, a refugee girl facing deportation. The girl’s tears accomplished what no lobbyist or newspaper . . . . Continue Reading »

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