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Recently, a listener wrote in about some challenges that he and his wife faced together. They committed, he said, to faithfully serving God in “a Gospel-centered, imago Dei-affirming way.” That’s a wonderful way to describe what we must commit to as followers of Christ, what churches should strive for in discipling couples and families, and what we can offer a world so confused about what marriage is.

This Biblical view also clarifies our purpose. We should strive to build a just society, to care for the sick and to help the poor. That’s what Christians have done throughout history more than anyone else. But we do those things as expressions of faith, as works of mercy, not because we think we can perfect this world. Bending the arc of history is not our job. We seek not to perfect things here but to remain faithful to that great event in the past as we look to its fulfillment in the future.

This Thanksgiving, therefore, should remind our families what is at the heart of the culture war — and it is a “culture” war because what is at stake here is who society will worship — Christ or anti-Christ? This Thanksgiving has deeper meaning because it is a call to us Catholics to return to what makes us world-changers — a dynamic Eucharistic life — a life that gives thanks (eucharisteo) to God for everything because everything we have is a gift from God. A society centered on giving thanks to God for everything is a society that will be saved by God.

Ours is a world peculiarly starved for beauty. We must be vessels of beauty, that is, of the beauty that does not originate with us, but that inspirits us and transforms us, best when we ourselves are not aware of it. We must pray the prayer of that old Eucharistic hymn: Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore! O make us love Thee more and more, O make us love Thee more and more.

Latin Mass attendees aren’t the only ones clamoring over the traditional elements of Catholicism. A recent New York Times article documents the growing interest in traditional Catholic aesthetics, ritual and practice among hip, young New Yorkers — some of whom might not even believe. Borrowing a phrase from Bill Hader’s popular Saturday Night Live character Stefon, the piece argues that “New York’s hottest club” these days is the Catholic Church, attractive due to the “transgressive glamour” of its status quo defying traditionalism. Another recent article in Vox highlighted a similar trend, claiming that Catholic culture’s “alt” and “campy” sensibility “pairs well with this precise moment,” when young people are disillusioned with the drab cultural imaginary of secular humanism.

I had eight years of Jesuit education. It did neither harm nor good. My alma mater, Holy Cross, fights for BLM and LGBTQ, named a science center after alum Dr. Fauci, who allegedly disavowed his faith, but nothing for champion for life and devout Catholic, alum Clarence Thomas. I just got an email celebrating 50 years of teaching Liberation Theology. The list goes on. Lost.

Your Excellencies: It seems almost like yesterday that, among all the bishops scattered about the globe, it was everywhere understood that care of the soul was the principal function of your office; that God had given you no greater nor more essential task than getting souls into Heaven. “What must I do to assist the souls entrusted to me—souls for whom God Himself suffered and died—to prepare them for a life of unending glory?” That was the question every honest bishop needed to ask himself. Alas, like the snows of yesteryear that will not return, it seems no longer to be the case. Other and very different marching orders appear to have been issued. Nowadays, the Church sees herself primarily as a service organization, the ecclesiastical wing of some of the most progressive elements in the country. The Democratic Party, for instance, whose woke fixations might almost be informing her job description. No longer is it the business of the Church, her most sacred and necessary work, to lead the People of God through the world to God Himself.

In the wake of the Council, then Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow Karol Wojtyla devoted his days to implementing it, guided by the question, which he took as key: Ecclesia, quid dicis de te ipsa? (“Church, what account do you give of yourself?” It’s a question that partly answers itself, because the Church, clearly, must henceforth say of itself that it is a Church that inquires into itself. And the answer it gives about itself also must become part of what it is. Put the matter this way, and we see the high stakes necessarily involved in the project of the Council.

Christians are agents of God’s saving grace—bringing others to Christ. But we are also agents of His common grace: We’re to sustain and renew His creation, defend the created institutions of family and society, and critique false worldviews.

Transgenderism has become so normalized that we fail to see the evil that is happening before us. Joe Biden’s televised meeting with the trans celebrity is essentially no different than if he met with someone who struggled with anorexia or self-cutting and encouraged their destructive activities. It’s horrifying.

What happens if a student at a Catholic school declares he is now a she or she is now a he? The Church’s teaching is clear: “Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states (2333). Pope Francis, in his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, said: “Beyond the understandable difficulties which individuals may experience, the young need to accept their own body as it was created …” (285). But what if a student doesn’t? How are Catholic schools dealing with it, and how should they deal with it?

The new Italian premier concluded her speech with these words: The day our government took its oath before the head of state was the liturgical memorial of John Paul II, a pontiff, a statesman, a saint whom I had the honor of knowing personally. He taught me something fundamental that I have always treasured. ‘Freedom,’ he used to say, “does not consist in doing what we please, but in having the right to do what must be done.” I have always been a free person, I will always be a free person, and for this reason I intend to do precisely what I must do.

Drag Queens with children, witches on paddle boards. What is the harm?

Our friends at Focus on the Family have compiled a list of resources for Christians dealing with the complex issues of sexual identity. One of their best tools is “A Biblical Perspective on Transgender Identity: A Primer for Parents and Strugglers.” It walks through ways parents can help kids navigate sexual identity well: by encouraging openness and creating a safe place for sharing their feelings, teaching them about the importance and God-given design of our bodies, and being willing to prioritize honoring God, over and above human influences.  Those who struggle with dysphoria need a wider community to support and help them. Specifically, they need a Church unafraid to love them and speak truth to them. Today, groups like Focus on the Family and the Restored Hope Network help connect Christians with a whole network of biblically focused counselors to seek help for a range of mental and sexual questions.  Stories like Chloe’s teach us that there is hope, and that speaking up requires courage. 

For nearly two years, the Biden administration has put on full display its lamentable disregard for the sanctity of human life, human sexuality and religious freedom. One of the most disturbing examples has been the apparent recent weaponization of the Department of Justice in support of the administration’s pro-abortion agenda.

And so forgive me this impassioned plea: get your kids to Mass! The Devil does not take a day off. Satan is all in when it comes to indoctrination. His minions are aggressively fighting in all facets of our society to steal our children’s minds, souls, and sanity. They stop at nothing. We would do well to take a page from their book and resurrect such passion in ourselves.

Is there any hope in all this? Certainly. But along with hope, there must be recognition that, in Ratzinger’s words, “it will be hard going for the Church.” In a forthcoming book, written in collaboration with my friend David Byers, I argue that much of the burden of sustaining American Catholicism in the years ahead will inevitably rest on lay shoulders.

We need Christianity to take its rightful place in society and for souls to come to Christ. Nothing is neutral, who is going to be in control? It's good vs. evil.

Education will either direct souls to the Good, True, and Beautiful or the Bad, False, and Ugly. It is the responsibility of parents to always be the shining lights constantly guiding souls to the Good, True, and Beautiful. It is not the first responsibility of good teachers and schools, though good teachers and good schools are doing this. It is the first responsibility of parents to seek the Good, True, and Beautiful for their children. Good teachers and good schools simply reinforce this training of the soul in prudence that starts with parents.

Wealth and isolation. These two characteristics of our culture are not unrelated. The more we have, the more isolated we become, and the less we notice or care about others. The COVID lockdowns were devised and imposed by the wealthy, the so-called “laptop class,” who could afford to blithely sequester themselves and go on with life. There was a cruel indifference to how such isolation would further impoverish the poor. Those signs proclaiming “We’re all in this together” were absolute nonsense.