The following is a review of the film Calvary. Spoilers Ahead. Calvary is rated R and earns this rating. Viewer discretion advised.  I first watched the film Calvary four years ago. I remember leaving the theater feeling shocked and not a little disgusted. It was a brutal film, even an ugly film. And yet, four years later, I believe it […]

Something has gone wrong with our culture, or at least it seems that way by how many people make a living criticizing it, trying to fix it, or checking out of it altogether.  That last one is impossible, but it makes a good story.  Just consider how many institutes, apostolates, and publications say they are […]

The world is sick with sin. And not just the world, but the Church. The latest revelations about the depth and degree of the rot and moral corruption within the priesthood and the hierarchy, reaching all the way to the highest echelons of power, are nothing less than nauseating. The frightening truth is, we likely […]

Genesis 2:24 tells us: “…[A] man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.” There are echoes of this in the Gospels when our Blessed Lord reiterates this to the Pharisees who have hardened hearts and are testing Him. The phrase that I’d highlight and to delve […]

Since I was sixteen, nearly two decades ago, I have gone online almost every day. Starting August 2, for one month, I’m going off. No email, no social media, no keyboards, no podcasts. No audio books, no video memes, no texts. Not a single smiley-face emoticon. Nothing. Smart phone powered down and stuck deep in […]

Many of our faults and failings are more complex than we at first realize. Our patterns of behavior are rarely random, and surface sins are often merely symptomatic of deeper, more subtle wounds in our souls. Fear is a prominent example of a deeper wound, for fear, perhaps second only to pride, is the cause […]

I don’t have a book problem, I tell my wife, I have a bookshelf problem. Our home is overflowing with books on every conceivable topic, with nearly every bookshelf double stacked. Yet, despite this superabundance of tomes, my wishlist remains filled with hundreds more books I would like to buy in the future. No matter […]

Modern historian and commentator Kenneth Clark said in his popular BBC show Civilization, “Western Christianity survived by clinging to places like Skellig Michael, a pinnacle of rock [seven] miles from the Irish coast, rising seven hundred feet out of the sea.” It’s an intriguing claim, crediting the solitary monastery on Skellig Michael with a role in the […]