If you want to revitalize a Roman Catholic parish, here’s what you have to do: Priests (and when applicable, deacons): 1) Offer frequent times for Confession, and no, not just “by appointment”. “But why would I offer more confession times when people barely come to our Saturday half hour slot?” Just offer it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen priests increase the opportunities for Confession even when it wasn’t in response to a demand, and somehow, people not only started filling up the Saturday time slot, but the others, as well! 2) Offer the traditional Latin Mass, if possible. If not, offer the Novus Ordo as reverently as possible, by following the GIRM and infusing within it any traditional elements, as allowed. The Mass is the most important part of a priest’s life, and its worthy celebration will pay dividends for the life of your local parish. Move away from the 4-hymn sandwich. Prioritize a schola cantorum and the organ. If you can’t yet sing the Propers in Latin, sing them in English! 3) Offer perpetual Eucharistic adoration, if possible. If not, offer Eucharistic adoration frequently. Many people think that the key to fixing a parish is by implementing programs, doing all sorts of activities. There is no pastoral plan greater than the worship and praise of the LORD in the Blessed Sacrament. Put that first, and watch everything fall into place. 4) Preach brief, often, and well. The brevity of homilies allows for people to grasp 1-2 concepts clearly. Info-dumping everything you learned in seminary is not going to result in a successful take-home message. But preach whenever possible: at baptisms, funerals, daily Mass, parish Vespers. Work on your Sunday homily throughout the week. Pray on it. Consult secondary literature, such as biblical commentaries. Don’t avoid preaching on controversial topics. 5) Offer opportunities for parish fellowship. In between Sunday Masses, have coffee and social time. Be present for it. Promote it! In an era dominated by the digital, these sorts of in-person experiences allow authentic community to develop. Young adult (18-30) groups are great. Think also of marriage & family apostolates. For laity: 1) Show up. Obviously, go to Sunday Mass. But as your schedule allows, attend parish lectures, Bible study, Lauds/Vespers, bazaars and festivals, etc. The American Catholic’s social life was once dominated by the parish. I think it’s time we bring that back. 2) Tithe, donate money, time, and your talents. As appropriate to your current situation, make financial sacrifices to allow the parish to continue its work. Don’t just throw $5 in the basket if you’re driving a Tesla Model X. A good rule of thumb: if you’re spending more money on fast food every month than you are in the collection basket, it’s time to reevaluate your discretionary income. 3) Join parish organizations, like the Knights of Columbus, choir, CCD/Faith formation. Many of the Millennial generation grew up thinking “eh that’s the stuff for the older people.” That’s how these things die (also, we’re starting to become those “older people”). Ask your pastor where your talents meet the parish’s needs. 4) Love your priest (even if you don’t like him!) Do not treat your priest like a sacramental dispenser. Find out his birthday, interests, favorite food. Invite him over for a family dinner or take him out to lunch. While respecting proper boundaries, invite him into your life as an important person. Thank him, and pray for him! 5) Invite someone to Mass with you: a friend, coworker, or even a stranger. You are the primary agent by which the parish engages the world. “Come and see” ___ Certainly, there are more ways to revitalize a Roman Catholic parish, so feel free to list them below. But in every healthy parish I’ve seen, these elements were present. As our Western culture continues to decline and fragment, the parish might be one of the few places we can rebuild it. 📍 Mission San Rafael Arcángel, California

I expect a few responses to this: First, you’ll have the Fr. Ripperger fanbase saying “LIBERAL bishop silences FAITHFUL PRIEST but the hierarchy does nothing about JAMES MARTIN SJ!” Second, you’ll have the anti-Ripperger crowd say “Thank GOD the good, pastoral bishop is taking action over this lunatic, anti-Francis renegade exorcist!” I’d like to offer a better way to read this. I’m wary of “celebrity priests” in general, and think exorcism-talk requires prudence and reservation. Talking about the intimate details of an exorcism might lead one to the vice of curiositas, an unregulated, disordered appetite for spectacle and “hidden secrets “. But that said, Fr. Ripperger’s ministry has helped tons of people come to knowledge of the Catholic faith, especially on topics not frequently discussed by most public teachers of the Faith. This “one-year fast from public speaking and interviews” might be a good thing for him and his Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother, insofar as it reminds us that the Christian life is a combination of contemplation and action. Perhaps the bishop has noted that Ripperger’s run on the podcast circuit has distracted the Society from its main goals. Perhaps he wants to test Fr. Ripperger’s obedience and see if he’s truly docile to episcopal authority. I think Fr. Ripperger is virtuous enough to obey this directive, even if we bystanders might see it as unjust. I would like to see some other bishops or religious superiors ask for a “one year fast” (or in some cases, perpetual) for other popular personalities with an audience, but that’s a tweet for another day.

Please join me in praying for Pope Leo XIV, as well as for those who suffer from cancer and who have no one to pray for them. St. Peregrine, pray for us.

If it is true that the bishop is the “moderator, promoter, and guardian” of the Sacred Liturgy (Traditionis Custodes, Art. 2), then videos like these should cause serious alarm. The idea of “sacred music” is that it is music set apart and ordered towards divine worship. The fact that a Millennial on TikTok can obnoxiously sing the most common Catholic hymns from 1990 - 2010 as “bangers” shows that the songs were never fit for worship to begin with. You don’t hear people singing Byzantine troparions or the Latin Kyriale as if they were pop hits to be blasted on the radio (with the accompanying “this song slaps 🤣” commentary). Traditional Catholic chant and hymns evoke a sense of the transcendent and sacred. While the original intentions of Marty Haugen, the St. Louis Jesuits, and other “pastoral musicians” might have been noble, it is clear that the songs were too rooted in the profane, in their rhythms, melodies, accompaniment, to ever be considered “untouchable” from worldly usage. Catholic liturgy is not your karaoke.

While some people in San Francisco are training voice models instead of reading to their children, others in this city are forming children in truth, goodness, and beauty. While the world teaches children to scroll, swipe, and prompt, Catholic classical education teaches our children to read, reason, write, debate, sing, and pray. This is the greatest jewel in a city known for its gold, and it’s not even close.

Two images of France, less than a week apart. One rejects her Christian inheritance and the civilization it helped build. The other recalls France as the Church’s eldest daughter—defending human dignity, order, beauty, and peace. Two visions. One nation. Which way, French man?

Every few months, this curriculum pops up on the TL and the reactions are always the same: The defenders of classical education champion it as the best thing ever. The defenders of social efficiency, curriculum fragmentation, and vocationalism think it’s a scandal. In reality, while there might be some legitimate critiques of TAC’s curriculum—such as moving from a history of ideas in science to treating advancements like evolutionary biology —most of the criticism is rooted in contempt for the past, and a prideful assumption that everything modern is somehow better than the past. Part of the controversy here is that we’ve completely forgotten the purpose of education and why educational institutions exist. Thomas Aquinas College is an attempt to recover an integrated, rigorous, primary source/Socratic/Great Books approach to the curriculum. “LOL they don’t have an elective in lesbian underwater basket-weaving!” is actually a strength of TAC, not one of its flaws. Whatever its potential flaws, Thomas Aquinas College regularly produces far more intelligent, well-read, virtuous, integrated, and whole persons than whatever you see coming out of Harvard, Cornell, NYU, state schools, and others. Modern colleges bear a far greater burden of proof to defend a product being rendered obsolete by AI than Thomas Aquinas College does to defend an integrated, classical study of Western civilization.

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: Pope Leo XIV is a man of deep prayer and love for Christ and His Church. He is also a man who understands the dignity proper to the papal office, and embraces it as a gift to be shared with the universal Church. May God protect our pope!

Important here to note: this took place during a Mass attended by students from the original Chesterton Academy. The Sacred Liturgy is essential to a Catholic school. How beautiful it is that these students witnessed the devotion of a priest who truly loves our Eucharistic Lord.

Welcome to America, where the juror who votes to convict a woman of child murder is more severely criticized than than the mother who commits the crime.

Here are the facts: 5 of 268 active U.S. Catholic bishops are black— about 1.9%. Only between 2 and 5% of U.S. Catholics are black (depending if you count the full diaspora). The ratio isn’t too far off. Moreover, the Catholic laity aren’t in charge of choosing bishops! So he’s essentially accusing his brother bishops, the nuncio, and maybe even the pope (!) of “racism.” That’s extremely irresponsible. I think the vast majority of practicing Catholics care less about what race their bishop is, and more about how Catholic they truly are.

Unpopular opinion, but the ubiquity of dogs everywhere in our society—restaurants, schools, stores, and airplanes—is a sign of a decaying society. I don’t care about your “fur baby.” We need to bring back excluding pets from most social situations, and telling these people “no.”

For those keeping score at home: You can be an Austrian Catholic theologian and argue for women’s ordination, contraception, and same-sex “blessings” —but if you criticize liberalism, you lose your teaching position. I’m not even an integralist, but this is absurd.

In some ways, “travel” has become an idol for our age. While I think it’s good to visit and learn about other cultures, many Millennials/Gen Z have turned it into a personality trait, when in reality, all of their “travel” is simply a manifestation of consumeristic narcissism.