Commentary

Detachment as a component of God’s peace

December 4, 2023
By Elizabeth Scalia
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary

Detachment scares people — it sounds like coldness or indifference — but I’m coming to believe it’s actually a deep manifestation of love.

How shall we continue?

December 4, 2023
By Archbishop William E. Lori
Catholic Review Filed Under: Charity in Truth, Child & Youth Protection, Commentary, From the Archbishop

Pope Francis wrote about encountering Christ and the joy of evangelizing, a church that goes forth, not hiding or shrinking from challenges, but embracing them in openness and love to all.

Spend this Advent season with the saints

December 3, 2023
By Bert Ghezzi
OSV News Filed Under: Advent, Commentary, Saints

Advent prepares us for Jesus’ coming at Christmas and for his coming into our lives afresh. And no one knows how to get ready to welcome Christ better than the saints.

Let the warmth of Advent pull the bleak midwinter from you

December 2, 2023
By Effie Caldarola
OSV News Filed Under: Advent, Commentary

Make Advent loving and fun, with your focus on Jesus.

Unity is impossible? Here’s what a 450-Year-Old, 40-part motet can teach us

December 1, 2023
By Jaymie Stuart Wolfe
OSV News Filed Under: Advent, Arts & Culture, Commentary

The richness of 40 distinct voices lifts the soul upward, but also outward.

How do we win the abortion battle? Maybe like this.

November 30, 2023
By Greg Erlandson
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Respect Life

What the pro-life movement in general, and unfortunately even the church, has not done is to campaign convincingly for what replaces the “safety net” of abortion in the voters’ minds.

Friday abstinence: Getting to the meat of the matter

November 30, 2023
By Emily Stimpson Chapman
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary

Abstaining from meat is still the U.S. bishops’ stated preference for how Catholics should observe Fridays.

Question Corner: Baptismal records, earthly sufferings and Purgatory

November 29, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner

The diocesan chancery office would have access to maps of parish territorial boundaries, and would also be familiar with any “quirks” of local sacramental record-keeping.

A masterpiece on my windshield

November 27, 2023
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

I went outside, slipped into the driver’s seat, and glanced up to discover that the windshield was covered. Instead of the frost I’m used to seeing, however, the glass was enveloped in a beautiful, delicate pattern of ice.

Thanksgiving Food Stories (7 Quick Tastes)

November 24, 2023
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review Filed Under: Blog, Commentary, Open Window

Sometimes when we’re planning the Thanksgiving menu, someone will say, “But of course, it’s not about the food.” It’s about being together. Yes, yes, naturally. But the food stories tell us so much about the traditions and the people we love.

‘Longing’: Learning about Eucharistic desire from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

November 24, 2023
By Michael R. Heinlein
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Saints

The newly redesigned Elizabeth Ann Seton museum has much to offer any pilgrim.

Insta-culture and a powerful Advent lesson on delayed gratification

November 23, 2023
By Scott P. Richert
OSV News Filed Under: Advent, Commentary

What economists call “delayed gratification” is simply not part of American life anymore — and that’s as true of Catholics and other Christians as it is of the average American.