benedict option

The external witness of vowed religious — habits, cloister, the Opus Dei (the daily round of psalms, hymns, and collects recited in chapel) — are the first things Christians notice about the monastics among them. But, of course, that is not the whole story of the charism and fruit of the religious life

Should we cut the final Constantinian tether by which the priest serves simultaneously as civil agent?

What can the Church do in the public forum? The only thing the Church was ever meant to do: announce the kingdom.

Obedience is a choice to take responsibility for our life. An abbot keeps us accountable.

The Benedict Option is likely the best possible way forward for Christian social conservatives: it provides a new vision in place of disillusionment, refocuses them on local culture-making, and invites them to recover a longer Christian collective memory. If these things happen on a large scale, praise the Lord.

At the deepest level, the world needs for the Church to “be the Church.”

I have eagerly awaited Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option. Is Dreher right, or is he just telling people like me what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear?

How can we speak up in the current political climate, when our language no longer makes sense to most of the people who hear it? I don’t think we can. Not really.

Rather than sweeping doctrinal differences under the rug, Eighth Day Institute seeks to focus its ecumenism on the theological riches of ancient Christianity, which Christians of both East and West can claim as their heritage.

Last year I was very concerned about higher education. In fact, it seemed to me that our elite institutions were going to become no-go...