We often hear the ambiguous assertion that the liturgy should be solemn and that people are looking for a solemn liturgy. In English, the word "solemn" has at least two senses with which I am familiar: 1) serious, as opposed to frivolous; and 2) somber or gloomy, as opposed to joyful. Everything I know about Catholic Christianity tells me that the first sense is the Catholic sense: the Mass should be solemn in the sense that it's very serious and not frivolous. On the other hand, the Mass should not be "solemn" in the narrower sense of being either somber or gloomy, as opposed to joyful. The command in the Holy Scriptures — the voice of God — is plain: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice" (Galatians 4:4, ESV).

Back on December 8th, the N.Y. Times ran a column entitled "A Challenge for Churches: Adulthood Takes Its Time" by Peter Steinfels, who outlined the insights of two sociologists of religion on delayed adulthood, "a time between ages 18 and…

It’s not a series about eccentric films. It’s a gay film series bolstered with “two [discussion] panels with acclaimed writers and directors.” Now, since Notre Dame claims to be a first-class academic university, let’s pose some philosophical questions about language…

Germain Grisez is an American-born moral theologian who teaches at Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Maryland (a beautiful site, by the way, that is worth visiting if you are near DC and which also has a historic shrine to…

When you listen to the legal pundits defending the starvation of Theresa Marie Schiavo, what you hear again and again is a variation of one theme: the courts establish the facts, the courts have reviewed this again and again, the…

I recall a prayer book in which St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-83) is referred to as the “Glory of Spain,” as she should be. She is a Doctor of the Church and, of course, a great mystic and Carmelite reformer.…

In the aftermath of the presidential election, some pro-abortion politicians are trying to figure out how to blunt the impact of the pro-life vote. One prominent pro-abortion politician, Hillary Clinton, is already working feverishly to try to dilute the pro-life…

In the New Testament, the term “saints” or “holy ones” is used to refer to all faithful Christians. In Philippians 1:1, Paul sends his greetings to “all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and…

The resurgence of interest among young Catholics in the Tridentine Mass is very understandable. When you are immersed in a culture in which reverence and the sense of sacrifice to an awesome God are missing, you leap at the chance…

I have heard it on tape and also on CD. But recently I read the written text of a 1994 talk on contraception by Janet Smith, now a professor at Detroit’s Sacred Heart Major Seminary. The talk is entitled Contraception:…