Blaming Autumn: Unjust cranks in this excellent season of wonder October 27, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary Lately, instead of greeting the day with “thank you, Lord, that I get to have another one!” I rise with a cranky growl, mentally grousing at God and giving the saints a bit of Irish lip, too. Autumn, my favorite season, is partly to blame. I tell myself that I’m cranky because what delights me in October — sharp air, warm sweaters and breathtaking foliage — will disappear so swiftly into dreary November.
AI and consciousness: Stranded in Eden, once more October 6, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary Elizabeth Dias is a very good writer, and if you can get behind the paywall at the New York Times, try to read her lengthy piece about religious scholars meeting with Anthropic to discuss whether they could help instill morality into Artificial Intelligence.
Pondering what Gloria Steinem now knows September 9, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary It is understandable that so many attributed the words to Steinem, who died Sept. 2 at age 92; not only did she gleefully repeat them, her own rhetoric echoed or expanded on the sentiments as she became the face of second wave feminism for six decades.
Parents, please stop tormenting your kids for clicks! August 25, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, social media In my youth I knew a mother who played cruel “jokes” on babies. With a little one seated on her lap, she would temptingly show a biscuit or a candy, and — just as the excited infant leaned forward, arms and legs churning, mouth open — she would devour it, with a laugh.
Bob Dylan makes me want to be 80. Or even 85. July 28, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary “The best thing about being 80 is that you outlive the clocks that have been chasing you. It’s freedom from that lie than anything was ever under control.” — Bob Dylan
Dream and be encouraged! Your God-given gifts are still there! June 15, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies not over and done; every morning they are renewed, so great is his faithfulness (Lam 3:22-23).
‘Magnifica Humanitas’: A feast of a message needing measured bites May 28, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: AI, Commentary Coming in at 42,000 words, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” is massive. It’s huge. It is clear-eyed and comprehensive and so chock-full of good stuff that it must be consumed bit-by-bit, like a many-coursed Roman feast — best to go at it slowly, savoring small bites, perhaps even taking a little break between morsels if you hope to make it to the caffe and cannoli.
Old lines, new thoughts: Writing out a Gospel by hand April 20, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary Because my Lent took a nosedive about two-thirds of the way through, I am still immersed in a project I undertook in order to get my spiritual groove back: Writing out the Gospel of Mark, in longhand.
Odds on Peter: Trump vs the Pope April 15, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary Catholics will always be loyalty suspects in the United States of America. We love our country, but we will not (and should not) put it before Christ or his Church or the successors to his apostles.
Why does the Annunciation loom so large in Catholicism? March 23, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Marian Devotion The Annunciation is the full-on proof of Augustine’s words: “God created us without us, but he will not save us without us.” Just as God’s own Word of assent was necessary for the creation and sustained expansion of the universe, Mary’s “yes” was necessary to its salvation.
St. Patrick’s Breastplate and the terrors of mid-Lent March 16, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Lent St. Patrick might advise, such darkness is still and always with us, looking easy and glamorous as it sucks us into the black and whirling vortexes of sin. The battle between light and dark still continues all round us, and invites us in.
Fear: Destroyer of Lenten works March 7, 2026By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Lent It is human to be afraid. But this year, in our Lenten disciplines, let us place all of the fears we’re conscious of — or will admit to — into the vast depths of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Christ, who said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32).
