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A long time ago, we hired a team of carpenters and plumbers to renovate a bathroom. Moe, Larry, and Curly were not masters of their craft. I should have fired them as soon as I saw what they had done to one of the doorways, removing the support for one of the uprights and turning … Read moreLiturgical Stooges

If this were day one in a course on the Theology of Christ, the first order of business would be to issue the following disclaimer, which is that not even the least glimpse into the mystery of Jesus is possible without first answering one very big question. Leave it out and the whole inquiry regarding … Read moreDoes God Speak?

What does it take to become a man of clarity, courage, and spiritual fire in a world that wants you passive, distracted, and numb? Today, John Heinen welcomes Fr. Boniface Hicks—Benedictine monk, spiritual director, and author. For over 20 years, Fr. Boniface has guided men through spiritual warfare, identity crises, and the hidden wounds that … Read moreFr. Boniface Hicks (Monk): Becoming a Man in a World That Wants You Passive

I have had numerous conversations over the years with other Catholic dads about the challenges of raising kids in today’s world. The discussions usually center on the bad cultural influences affecting our children, our hectic schedules, and our well-intentioned desire to be better fathers. We mean well, but how do we move from conversation to … Read moreA Checklist for Catholic Dads

Have you ever had one of those jarring moments when the lyrics of a song you once jammed to as a kid suddenly hit you with grown-up clarity? Maybe it was hearing Free Bird and suddenly realizing the masses in your high school were swaying to a breakup anthem. Or perhaps at your kids’ Catholic … Read moreJesus Called People Morons: The Sacred Insult That Could Save a Civilization

I’ve never understood cultural Catholicism. If you extract belief while keeping the trappings of a Catholic faith devoid of, well, faith, you end up with one of the lamest country clubs around. The members aren’t cool. Their musical tastes are cringe. They may have some ethnic affiliation and a rich cultural history, but they are … Read moreNo Way Home

Although our country has Protestant roots and is still predominantly Protestant, we are now accustomed to Catholics in high political office. Unfortunately, many of those Catholic politicians—people such as Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Richard Durbin—aren’t very good Catholics, showing disdain for fundamental Catholic teaching like the dignity of the unborn and the sacredness of … Read moreShould Vance Have Kissed the Ring?

On May 14, in his “Address to Participants in the Jubilee of Oriental Churches,” Pope Leo XIV not only praised “the unique spiritual and sapiential traditions that they preserve, and for all that they have to say to us about the Christian life, synodality, and the liturgy,” he also highlighted how the Oriental Churches have … Read moreThe Eastern Contribution to the Universal Church

Progressives do not seem to understand the dramatic societal transformation that is occurring among young people searching for meaning in an increasingly chaotic culture. Failing to recognize these changes, David Hogg, the clueless Democratic National Committee Vice Chair, recently told an interviewer that young people just want to “get laid and have fun.” The truth … Read moreGen Z Finds Meaning in Traditional Religion

Just a few days ago, on May 20, 2025, actor George Wendt passed away. For many of us who grew up watching Cheers,or later discovered it through reruns, George Wendt was simply “Norm.” He was the guy on the barstool with dry wit, stoicism, and a steady presence that never demanded attention yet somehow became … Read moreFrom Barstool to Beatific Vision: Longing for a Place Where We Are All Known

Let us try to imagine a Church filled with Christ, overflowing with His presence and power. Not too difficult, is it? Is that not the customary, immemorial even, way of referring to the Bride and Body of Christ? And does she not accordingly see herself situated along a continuum stretching from time into eternity, a … Read moreSacramentalizing the world

The smoke has cleared from the Sistine Chapel, and Pope Leo XVI has been elected to lead the Catholic Church into an uncertain future. As Catholics around the world look to Rome with a mixture of hope and trepidation, one question emerges above all others: How do we navigate the turbulent waters ahead? For more … Read moreNavigating the Waters Ahead

In a beautiful address to Eastern Christian pilgrims in Rome, Pope Leo XIV showed this week that the tenets of our Catholic Faith are more than platitudes. In particular, he applied Catholic principles plainly and unflinchingly to the plight of the Christian communities in Bethlehem, located in the West Bank, and in Gaza—defending their right … Read moreFollow Pope Leo’s Lead: Defend the Christian Presence in the Holy Land

The Francists are playing defense now, fighting a rear-guard action against those who have questioned certain actions, thoughts, and even “teachings” of Pope Francis. There is an odor of desperation among them. After all, we have had a sometimes rocky 12 years. The Francists know this, though they would put all the blame on Taylor … Read moreLet the Forgetting Begin

On May 18, 2025, the news broke that Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., the 46th president of the United States and one of the most recognizable Catholic figures in modern American political life, was diagnosed with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer. The cancer, classified with a Gleason score of 9—aggressive and spreading to his bones—is no trivial … Read moreJoe Biden’s Diagnosis: A Call to Prayer and a Reckoning With Eternal Truth

A reporter recently asked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a practicing Catholic, how he reconciled the teachings of the Catholic Church with the Trump administration’s aggressive stance against illegal and mass migration. Rubio gave an interesting answer about the nature of mass migration, but he also insisted that “the pope is not a political … Read moreThe Church Is Political—Inside and Out

Over a month ago, on the night of March 30, Jonathan Hoang disappeared from his house near Seattle. He’d gone upstairs to bed on Sunday evening, but when his mother went to wake him for school on Monday morning, he was gone. There are no known suspects yet. Jonathan is autistic, with the outlook and … Read moreLeaders Matter

Every man fights invisible battles—fear, self-doubt, shame, and the lies he tells himself over and over about who he is and what he is good at. In this episode, John Heinen sits down with Devin Schadt to expose the real front line of spiritual warfare and personal growth: your thoughts. Together, they unpack how negative … Read more3 Mental Habits Every Man Must Break in His Life

This year has been a hot year for the transgender theme. It seems to be on the news every week if not more – from Jenner to bathroom laws. We live in a world that is, more and more, questioning genders and the validity of them, or at least the number. I believe there are … Read moreMasculine Confidence

Traditional, orthodox Roman Catholic believers ought to be extremely grateful that American Catholics do not vote on Catholic doctrine, moral teaching, and ecclesiology. Because if they did, and if they got their way, much of the historic Roman Catholic Church would be swept away into the dustbin of history. This conclusion screams from the pages … Read moreLiberalism in the Pews 

On a recent Tuesday, beneath a wide, blue sky stretched over the French countryside, two Benedictine Sisters of Montmartre led me into a small room to speak with the bishop who had offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They spoke softly in French to Bishop Pascal Marie Roland, the shepherd of Belley-Ars, who listened … Read moreThe Curé d’Ars to Confront Our Lost Culture

The speculations about what kind of pope Leo XIV will be range from outrageous scurrility to overenthusiastic embrace. I have read terrible things on the far end of the ultra “conservative” enclaves on the Internet and ridiculous things from the official liberal “Catholic” who seems to be whistling past the cemetery. Not only do some … Read morePope Leo and the Hermeneutics of Continuity

Perchance, you haven’t noticed. But for the past sixty years or so a pitched battle has been waged in the Church, something close to Jacobin revolution. Of course, its birth was simultaneous with a most prominent event. But even mentioning it would earn immediate censure, so, I will not. (So much for Synodal listening. I … Read moreThe Council of Nicaea at 1,700 Years Old

One of the stranger headlines to emerge in the wake of Pope Francis’ death wondered about whether the next pope would reveal the Vatican’s UFO “secrets,” resurfacing the bombshell congressional hearing about UFOs last summer. Since Pope Leo’s election, it has been speculated that he will be the “disclosure pope” about the Vatican’s knowledge of … Read moreWill Pope Leo XIV Reveal the Vatican’s Secret UFO Files?

Today, almost everyone is worried about the future of their finances. USA Today, on May 5, warned that many grocery items were likely to increase in price because of the Trump administration’s tariffs. Consumers could pay an additional $2,500 to $5,000 for low-cost American vehicles and up to $20,000 for some imported models, CBS reported … Read moreBeing Good Bankers

There have been so many dark centuries in the history of Christendom that one hesitates to call any particular century the darkest of all. Some have been as dark as the 20th century, but none have been as deadly. In terms of the sheer body count, the 20th century, with its wars of irreligion and … Read moreSingers Silenced by War

On May 8, 2025, the world witnessed the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the Catholic Church as former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost took the name Pope Leo XIV to begin the 267th pontificate in the unbroken line of successors to St. Peter. With the eyes of the faithful and the curiosity … Read morePope Leo XIV and the Battle Against Modernity

I know it is early in the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, and maybe it would be a bit too hasty of me to claim any miracles have resulted from it, but something seemingly miraculous happened recently during Pope Leo’s audience with the Eastern Catholic leaders. No, I am not speaking of something like levitation … Read moreHow Well Does Pope Leo Know Pope Leo?

Men grow up with emotions they can’t understand or explain—impatience, anger, frustration, even loneliness or sadness—and because they lack the framework for how to work with these emotions they are ultimately controlled by them. In this episode, John Heinen sits down with T.K. Coleman—top 100 podcaster (The Minimalists) and author of Emotional Clutter—to expose the … Read moreHow to Win the Spiritual Battle No One Prepares You For w/ T.K. Coleman

In a recent post on her Substack newsletter, Sarah Cain made a statement that, although predictable and already common in such difficult times, always gives us pause for thought: “Pope Francis was the biggest impediment to my conversion. I know that I’m not alone in that.” Clearly, Cain is not the only one who has … Read moreYes, the Visible Head of the Church Is the Pope—This Is Our Christian Faith

In another example of the culture co-opting and distorting something holy, DEI has become a popular acronym for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. And it’s no coincidence when we say this movement is not of God, for the Latin Dei means just that: of God. Even if the people who coined the acronym and push the … Read moreTrust in Dei not DEI

Soon after his election, Pope Leo XIV revealed why he chose his papal name, and he noted that the rise of artificial intelligence was on his mind: The new pope’s comments should signal to every Catholic: if you aren’t preparing for AI and how it will impact the world, you should be. It’s a cliché … Read moreThe Catholic Artificial Intelligence Moment

Villanova University is having a well-deserved moment with the election of Pope Leo XIV, its most notable graduate. Founded in 1842 by the Order of St. Augustine and dedicated to its motto of “Veritas, Unitas, Caritas”—truth, unity, and love—Villanova had historically been an ardent defender of the faith and zealous protector of the social and … Read morePope Leo XIV Is a Gift to US Catholic Colleges and Universities  

When I was a young man in college, I went through what most young men go through – the dating scene. As it goes, I found some young women who were attractive, and I sought to gain their attention. I would take them out for ice cream, or go to a movie, or whatever else … Read moreLove ‘Em Before You Date ‘Em

The corporate media is already spilling tons of ink to paint a picture of a pope and a U.S. president with nothing in common. Reports even goad Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump against each other. And to the pro-war ruling classes and their agents in the media, there’s an urgent reason to drive … Read morePope Leo XIV and President Trump: Allies for Peace

Congratulatory messages to Pope Leo XIV were issued by world leaders of Catholic and non-Catholic nations alike on his elevation to the Throne of St. Peter. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his “cordial congratulations,” saying, “I am confident that the constructive dialogue and cooperation between Russia and the Vatican will continue to flourish, grounded … Read moreOur Chinese Brethren: A Delicate and Complex Situation for Pope Leo XIV