Commentary by Fr. James Schall

God's Supreme Work
Why is it the resurrection of Christ?

American Timidity?
Is U.S. Democracy just talk?

The Papal Pencil
"...Not only changing the way we communicate, but communication itself."

Things Not Due to Teaching
The question of what can be taught or what cannot is an intriguing one...

Knowledge Is Power
Only when we see its results do we go back and wonder about the principle.

The Fatherhood of God
He is our Father, the Father of us all.

"A Raging Mirth"
Reflection on Chesterton's "A Child of the Snows."

Screwtape on Pleasure
The logic of the improper use of pleasure is, finally, no pleasure at all.

Absolute Non-Judgment
"It's kind of nice to be able to see what is going on."

On Building an Earthly City
Our end is not an earthly city.

On the Reading of Books
Strange that there should be so little reading in the world and so much writing.

Love and Dogma
Is the catechism really an impediment to teaching children to be loving?

Evangelization
We may not want to know the truth, but Someone still wants us to know it.

"Man of the Word"
His words are nothing if not rooted in the Word made flesh.

The Rise of Cross-less Catholicism
Catholicism is not a religion that provides a formula for not sinning.

The One Hundred and Fifty-Fourth Fish
Evidently, Christ was a fisher of fish as well as of men.

The Big Problem
"What is the truth?" and "Where do you find it?"

Resurrexit Sicut Dixit
Without this resurrection, our whole human reality is in vain.

Original Sin
A consoling doctrine that prevents us from ultimately finding only ourselves.

A Man of Words and Deeds
Churchill was a statesman, a man of action with the prudence that goes with it.

We Do Believe
At the basis of all our ability to "believe" is not more belief, but finally seeing.

It Is Bidden Us to Rejoice
Let us accept it. Let us not be worrisome. Let us rejoice and be glad!

On Being an 'Ultra-Catholic'
One who strives to do what Aquinas did.

On Answering Questions
Truth asks questions but, more importantly, gives answers.

The Absurdity of War
War is not simply "absurd." Not thinking about it surely is.

On Never Being Correct
It reminds us that we do not ourselves make all the rules of our living.

A Transcendent Nature
We are loved for our own sakes, however we respond.

Moral Reasoning
Every man has a conscience, even drifting on the Mississippi.

The Actual Constitution
The Constitution "evidently binds nobody. Actually, nothing binds anyone."

Graduation 2009
Every 20 year old needs to be aware of and excited by what is...

What Is a Leader?
The most difficult of all the human occupations of this world.

The Last Christian
Redemption is an invitation, not something forced on us.

The Lord of the World
"Wonderfully conveys the flatness and boredom of a world without God."

The 'Right' to Happiness
"No one has a right to happiness."

Second Readings
Leave us with such ultimate things on our mind, when we least expect them.

The Christmas Fire
We are beings who want to know the whole story.

On Words and Symbols
Why the Church talks of being, natural law, and doctrine.

Liberating Theology from Politics
The duty of the Christian...is to leave this world a better man."

Justice and Eternal Life
On justice in Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Spe Salvi.

The Young Tyrant
"We know that the requests of tyrants are mingled with compulsion."

Peace Research
It remains the principal problem of our time.

The Pleasure of Learning
Knowing, being sensible is its own pleasure.

Orthodoxy
The single-best book published in the last hundred years.

The Lord Alone
The proper worship of God is both our end and our final joy.

In the Company of Good Men
To know and practice many of the highest virtues we need others...

Schall at Eighty
Both the peril and the excitement are there, for we are free.

The Nativity
"We bring you tidings of great joy."

'To Save the People from Their Sins'
We are invited to understand and choose.

Bridge Walkers
We walk because it is itself an exhilarating experience.

Religious Freedom
We are free in order to accomplish what we are.

The Last 'Nonsense' In Print
"In spite of it all, this 'nonsense' still makes sense, even in print."

Responsibility for Our Souls
We are not the objects of our own hope, but we are its subjects.

On the 'Right' to Be Created
The fun only begins when we live in bounty, not rights.

On Murder and War
"If Murder Is a Crime, What Is War?"

Mathematics
This issue touches the very credibility of faith and its relation to reason.