Catholics From The United States

"This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a disorder of ‘assumption’—the notion that a person’s maleness or femaleness is determined by feelings or behavior rather than by anatomy."

"To really grasp the depths of diabolical evil, you have to be prepared to engage in some honest self-reflection. You have to be able to humble yourself and search the inmost core of your being in order to discover your own capacity for evil. Everyone has a capacity for evil. And everyone—at some point in their lives—has made use of that capacity and acted in evil ways. In order to understand the kind of evil that characterizes the inhabitants of Hell, you must attempt to understand evil itself. And the only way to do that is to dig and probe deeply inside your own soul, despite any unpleasant things you might find."

"Like anything else that man makes, culture is nowhere pure, and is often shot through with dreadful evil. But it is in a way natural to man to cultivate a way of life that transcends the generations in time, and that in being reaches out to God himself. I suggest that the unnatural is to the natural as mass phenomena are to culture —especially the mass phenomena such as they are now."

"There can be legitimate debate between parties and candidates as to the best policy to address an issue; however, this is not the same as disagreement on fundamental principles. The question prayerfully to ask ourselves then, is whether it is permissible to vote for a candidate whose positions oppose the truth of fundamental principles because one likes the candidate’s policy stance on other issues."

"God, our loving Creator, created two sexes. So, femininity and masculinity are linked to the design of God. You see this in a good marriage; each partner anticipates the other’s needs, and appreciates the other's gifts. I've seen this in the marriage of my own parents, who have been married for 72 years. Their love is so beautiful, and their complementarity so evident."

"Without carrying out these actions, without standing behind our military men and women in combat, you really dissuade, I think, the recruiting of new members of our military if they’re sitting here thinking, ‘Gosh, I can actually be convicted of murder in a war scenario, this is crazy. Certainly we need to take all efforts to protect lives, but I think there were some imperfections in these three cases and the president courageously and boldly did the right thing."

"The world needs holy men today, especially fathers–both biological fathers and spiritual fathers, priests and bishops. Today many men are confused about what it means to be a man, a husband, and a father. Addictions to pornography and entertainment (especially sports) have consumed the lives of men around the world. Furthermore, for those who want to try and break free of the cycle of cultural brain-washing, education and career systems have been put in place to beat down any traditional understanding of strong male leadership, determining and classifying traditional manhood as toxic. This has left many men feeling emasculated and adrift in a society that views their fatherhood and leadership as dispensable. We need St. Joseph to serve as the model for men (fathers, husbands, and clergy) today. From St. Joseph they learn to be servant leaders, sacrificial and chivalrous men not afraid to confront the darkness, slay spiritual dragons, and combat the politics of death. If St. Joseph is the Terror of Demons (and he is), all men are called to resemble him and also be a terror to the forces of evil."

"I have often asked myself: “Why has Jesus let all of this happen?” The only answer that comes to mind is that Jesus wants to manifest just how weak is the faith of many within the Church, even among too many of her bishops. Ironically, your pontificate has given those who hold harmful theological and pastoral views the license and confidence to come into the light and expose their previously hidden darkness. In recognizing this darkness, the Church will humbly need to renew herself, and so continue to grow in holiness."

"Editor’s Note: Please Support Crux (April 23, 2019)"

"Whether it’s papal generosity and restraint, as his admirers would have it, or a Machiavellian remains that if a leader believes he or she has been misrepresented and yet remains silent, even sending signals of approval, then ownership of that message shifts to the leader."

"With a few towering exceptions, most secular news outlets are simply too far away from the story to really understand what’s going on – because especially when it comes to Catholicism, it’s not just facts that matter, it’s details too. On the other hand, many specialized religious news organizations are too close. They’re either on the institutional payroll, or they’re clearly aligned with one or another of the various camps within the Church. Crux has the chance to be close enough to get the story right, but far enough away to remain objective. We don’t strike that balance perfectly every day, but at least we’re trying."

"One could rightly say that I became a Catholic by default, and that possibility is the simple gift I received from the Catholic Church. Mater ecclesia, she needed neither reasons, nor theories, nor ideas from me."

"I run into these “good Catholics” all the time, for example, who would rather die than cast their lot with the rest of humanity and ask for help with their massive psycho-spiritual wounds around family, love, addictions, finances. “We have Christ,” you can hear them thinking. Well, yes, and Christ works through other people. We have a huge fear of appearing vulnerable or weak, of not having all the answers. That is what Christ and the Gospels are for."

"Perhaps the secularization of our universities helps explain the tremors in public life. If one does not believe in God as Lord of history, then everything is up to us. This tempts us to fight with an almost religious desperation. Every election becomes a Final Judgment. Our preferred candidates take on religious roles as prophets and saviors. A purely secular outlook can also tempt us to give up the fight. Without confidence in God’s providential care, we can despair of ever setting things aright. So we retreat into our private concerns, neglect the common good, and just try to gain enough wealth and status to insulate ourselves from the uncertainties of life. First Things has a crucial role to play. We insist that God is Lord of history. This desacralizes politics—an urgent necessity. And it combats the hopelessness that often causes us to shrink from our civic duty, which at this particular juncture calls for the pluck to stand up to defend the sanctity of life, the dignity of marriage, the integrity of Western civilization, and the indispensable role of religion in public life."

"A government that imagines that it is the sole source of whatever rights it desires to bestow is far different from a government that knows its people have rights that it may not justly transgress. The first is an arrogant government, the second a humbler one."

"When government acknowledges that it is “under God,” it acknowledges that it is not the source of our rights and therefore cannot deny them to us. Our rights come from a source higher than and prior to the government—from the Creator himself. A government that declares this is humbler and safer than one that imagines itself to be the source of all our freedoms."

"I have many times sat across from, and told some of my darkest secrets to, gay ex-methheads, convicted felons, functional illiterates, and all sorts of other unpromising folks like myself, to truly great effect. I have become friends with many of these people; they have been deeply loyal and generous friends to me. But I’m not going to kneel before that person. That I want to kneel; that I want, with a humble and contrite heart, to be forgiven, to be made clean, to be born anew; that the Church is built, in a sense, upon that very desire, makes me know that my house is built on solid rock. I continue to fail and fall, but my house is built on solid rock."

"Maybe it’s because I’m a convert. I would not be dissuaded from Christ and His Church by any of the stuff that’s gone on. Yeah, the Church is human. The Church is made up of very human people. So yeah, the “scandals” don’t, you know, the sorrow of all sin and loneliness and using each other as objects and all that, of course, is always a source of deep concern, but again, if I’m really concerned about that, how can I conduct my own life? How can I purify my own heart?"

"[Reps.] Marjorie Taylor Greene and [Paul] Gosar, I don’t know them. But I’m reminded of the old line from Butch Cassidy where one character says, ‘Morons, I have morons on my team.’ I think anybody who would sit down with white nationalists at their conference is missing a few IQ points."

"Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated"

"Justice was served for #KyleRittenhouse and he is fully exonerated. As I said last year, obviously self-defense. I will arm wrestle @mattgaetz to get dibs for Kyle as an intern."

"We know already fool. It's a transsexual leftist illegal alien named Salvatore Ramos. It's apparently your kind of trash."

"The America First agenda is just in its infancy. There are 75 million of us, also. Did you know some Japanese soldiers kept fighting for decades after the war?"

"The unemployment benefit is fine, it would be nice if it was not there at all, but the situation that we've created for businesses, we owe it to them because it's like a takings."

"I’d rather die gloriously in battle than from a virus. In a way it doesn’t matter. But it kinda does."

"Immigration is a complex piece of legislation. It encumbers so many different pieces, you have to share each of these pieces. You have to take them one at a time. You can't just put a comprehensive bill forward because everybody knows in America, when you put comprehensive behind anything, there is crap. It's a crap sandwich."

"Is there an ability to have these DACA, or these folks who came in as children, to stay here but not with citizenship? Maybe that’s where I’m at is that I don’t want to give a special denotation for these people."

"Any anime fans out there?"

"I object to the suppression of the truth. I think the injustice of not being able to bring light to the situation dissolves all equitable application of the rule of law."

"My background is laden with natural resources and forestry. I am originally from western Wyoming and I have lived in the forest. My dad is a geologist. Natural resources and how we interact with, utilize and benefit from them is going to be a big issue for me."

"As a dentist and health care provider for over 25 years, I am fully committed to protecting the unborn and upholding the sanctity of life. We should not celebrate Roe v. Wade today, but rather pause and reflect on the nearly 50 million lives lost. : It is our moral and constitutional obligation that the life of every human being, born and unborn, is respected and protected under the law."

"If the Pope stuck to standard Christian theology, I would be the first in line. If the Pope spoke out with moral authority against violent Islam, I would be there cheering him on. If the Pope urged the Western nations to rescue persecuted Christians in the Middle East, I would back him wholeheartedly. But when the Pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one."

"It's a cartoon. Relax."

"This was not a strong case, and a loss at trial was a distinct possibility. In recognition of the weakness of the case, the assigned prosecutor offered a plea and sentence recommendation that guaranteed the defendant would be required to register as a sex offender, participate in court-ordered sex offender rehabilitation therapy and to have no contact with the victim and any other child under the age of 16. A loss at trial would have rendered any of these restrictions impossible."

"Beau should be the one running for president, not me He was worried I would walk away He is part of me, and so is my surviving son, Hunter, and Ashley"

"I'm happy to defend my dad. I don't think he needs any defensiveness. Any time the other side -- Karl Rove or folks on the far right -- are going after my father for smiling too much, you know that's a victory. My father spoke clearly to the American people about the facts, and you saw him do that for 90 minutes straight. You know, this isn't, Jake, about how much my father smiled or how many gallons of water that the congressman drank nervously on that stage. It's about talking directly to the American people about very important facts, and what you saw from my father were him articulating the vision that the president and he have to continue to build this middle class, you know, out and take this country forward. And, you know, from -- you know, I was struck by Paul Ryan by a number of fronts, you know, especially the congressman's position on Afghanistan, which I feel -- I feel very strongly about."

"It seems that a greater awareness is arising among Catholics, clerical and lay, of the need for the eternal spirit of chivalry. One cannot know if the Knightly organisations of today, ancient or modern, will weather the storm. But certainly their proliferation is a good sign that the yearning for the virtue of honour, loyalty, prowess, courtesy, and all the rest — married to a strong and practical Catholicity — is once again stalking the ruins of Christendom, here and abroad. We shall all need it if the evils of our time are to be resisted."

"Our attempts at rebuilding Christendom must be intimately linked with performing the Spiritual and Corporal works of Mercy. It may be that what we do in the temporal sphere might indeed lay the foundations for some future outward revival of Christendom – though what form that shall take is doubtless as impossible for us to imagine as the work of Justinian and Charlemagne was for Ss. Ambrose and Augustine, for all that that duo’s efforts were essential to both Imperial revivals. But whether or not that happens, may our spiritual endeavours alongside the other result in our becoming permanent subjects of that celestial realm of which any earthly expression of Christendom, however grand, is only a poor shadow and reflexion."

"Any achievement that I accomplished, many people attributed to the fact that I was his daughter"

"I was taught by both of my parents to work hard, to be passionate about whatever I did, and I felt that I did that and kind of got to where I am today because of hard work and passion and determination"

"I have always considered myself to possess a sixth sense, and my mother always told me to tap into my gut, my intuition"

"I believe that as the wife and mom I have a greater opportunity than most of the other family members. Even though everyone contributes to it, mothers and wives can be the thermostat of the home, not just taking the temperature but the thermostat, which sort of sets the tone at home. For the overall well-being of our families, I think it is important that our homes are the place where our families gather, and that we can make it a place of peace and beauty."

"As one becomes more habituated to the vice, one becomes less and less able to act otherwise. The vicious are marked by slavery to their vice, not freedom."

"I prefer the image of a blessed Shining City over the view of an America that is deservedly damned."

"Society needs the Church to draw moral lines faster than those who are erasing them, and so cure confusion with clarity. The Church’s claim, and rightfully so, is that she is in possession of the moral compass, one that is constructed according to the laws of our nature, and one that is immeasurably enhanced in its precision by the upgrades of revelation, one that is accurate no matter how far we sinful humans wander from the right course."

"It’s great to read the Bible. What we need to do as parents and grandparents is we need to build a culture of Scripture for our children, evangelicals and fundamentalists and non-denominational Christians all do that intuitively because that’s all they have in terms of the sacramental, is the Scripture. We do have the living word of God, Jesus and the Eucharist. I think that building a culture of Bible reading and Bible study and meditation, lectio divina, is something that is critically important."

"Love of our Blessed Mother was so frequently referred to by members of the underground Church. I could not help but think of how her heart, pierced seven times historically because of the innocent suffering of her divine Son, continues to be pierced mystically as she observes the unjust suffering of the noble Chinese people. She sees Jesus in each innocent Chinese person tortured, abused, aborted. So should we."

"We are a consumer society, and the danger of being a consumer society is that we begin to define our walk with God, or our Christianity, in terms of what we consume rather than what we do. The danger is that we can get to a place where our faith is made up of consuming faith (not living it). If someone asks you, “Are you Catholic,” and you respond, “Yes. I go to Bible study. I watch EWTN, I listen to Catholic radio, I’m always on the Catholic news sites …” that has nothing to do with being a disciple. It can be part of it, but I think right now there’s a need to go from theory and understanding to action, and to relationship. If we busy ourselves so much with the consumption of the Faith, we can trick ourselves and our faith becomes a hobby."

"It is always important to know who you friends are and aren't. And the communists were never the liberals' friends. The fact is that the joke is on liberals, except that none of this is really very funny."

"There are some who want to erect a wall between people of faith and public service. I want to tear down that wall! There are problems government can never solve unless we speak to the hearts of the people. It’s true that the role of a pastor is different from someone in public service, but the two roles should work hand in glove for the benefit of the community."