---
title: Essays – Church Life Journal | Culture
description: Culture |
---
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All posts filed under: ESSAYS
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/08/01/a-gesture-in-common)
## [A Gesture in Common: The Joy of the Gospel in Undergraduate Education](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/08/01/a-gesture-in-common)
Published by [Holly Taylor Coolman](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/holly-taylor-coolman)
These are challenging days for those doing the work of undergraduate education, and perhaps especially so for those who mean to pursue that work in light of the Gospel. In the midst of economic challenges, we must ask again what the real purpose of a college education is. How should we think about the classical project of the liberal arts? What about ongoing challenges in making education availabl...
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[August 01, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/08/01/a-gesture-in-common)
[Articles](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/articles) / [Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [hollytaylorcoolman](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/hollytaylorcoolman) / [liberal arts](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/liberal-arts) / [education](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/education) / [Evangelii Gaudium](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/evangelii-gaudium) / [Featured](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/featured) / [Pope Francis](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/pope-francis)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/06/06/a-tale-of-two-synods)
## [A Tale of Two Synods: What's Become of Catholic Marriage and What Can We Do About It?](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/06/06/a-tale-of-two-synods)
Published by [Kent. J. Lasnoski](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/kent-j-lasnoski)
Hermeneutics has always been a challenge, even with something seemingly simple. Allow me an example. I was teaching catechism for three- to five-year-olds at our parish on Sunday, and I asked the kids to draw a picture of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. Well, after five minutes my son brings up his uncontestably creative rendition. I could see Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, but there was a fourth fig...
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[June 06, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/06/06/a-tale-of-two-synods)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [Amoris Laetitia](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/amoris-laetitia) / [children](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/children) / [divorce](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/divorce) / [Holy Communion](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/holy-communion) / [Synod on the Family](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/synod-on-the-family) / [family](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/family) / [marriage](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/marriage) / [Pope Francis](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/pope-francis) / [works of mercy](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/works-of-mercy) / [Year of Mercy](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/year-of-mercy)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/06/06/fidelity-and-discernment-reading-amoris-laetitia)
## [Fidelity and Discernment: Reading "Amoris Laetitia"](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/06/06/fidelity-and-discernment-reading-amoris-laetitia)
Published by [John Meinert and Brian Pedraza](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/john-meinert-and-brian-pedraza)
With deference to Pope Francis’ magisterial authority as well as to his pastoral guidance as the chief shepherd of the Church, we offer a reading of *Amoris Laetitia* with the aim of aiding pastors and lay men and women in their understanding and application of the document. This deference urges a reading that both respects the direction in which Francis is leading the Church and reads his teaching ...
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[June 06, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/06/06/fidelity-and-discernment-reading-amoris-laetitia)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [Amoris Laetitia](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/amoris-laetitia) / [Canon Law](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/canon-law) / [brianpedraza](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/brianpedraza) / [conscience](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/conscience) / [johnmeinert](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/johnmeinert) / [marriage](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/marriage) / [Pope Francis](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/pope-francis)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/23/the-new-evangelization-in-the-americas-on-the-catholic-origins-of-human-rights)
## [The "New" Evangelization in the Americas: On the Catholic Origins of Human Rights](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/23/the-new-evangelization-in-the-americas-on-the-catholic-origins-of-human-rights)
Published by [David Lantigua](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/david-lantigua)
The introduction of human rights language into the social mission of the Catholic Church evident in Pope John XXIII’s encyclical *Pacem in terris* (1963) is often seen as a delayed response to the modern world. From this perspective, Vatican II’s *Declaration on Religious Freedom* rode on the back of America’s centuries-old first freedom. Even the magna carta of the modern social encyclicals, Pope Leo...
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[May 23, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/23/the-new-evangelization-in-the-americas-on-the-catholic-origins-of-human-rights)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [Bartolomé de las Casas](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/bartolome-de-las-casas) / [davidlantigua](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/davidlantigua) / [human dignity](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/human-dignity) / [natural law](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/natural-law) / [New Evangelization](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/new-evangelization) / [Spanish Dominicans](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/spanish-dominicans)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/17/mary-in-the-movies-a-review-of-full-of-grace)
## [Mary in the Movies: A Review of "Full of Grace"](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/17/mary-in-the-movies-a-review-of-full-of-grace)
Published by [Danielle Peters](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/danielle-peters)
For more than a century, the Blessed Virgin Mary has caught the imaginations of filmmakers of all religious persuasions: devout believers, agnostic, and even atheist affiliations. The intersection of theology and secular culture presents the monumental challenge to filmmakers of depicting what escapes all visual categories: Transcendence and Mystery. The cinematic depictions of Mary of Nazareth ra...
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[May 17, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/17/mary-in-the-movies-a-review-of-full-of-grace)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [Assumption](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/assumption) / [Full of Grace](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/full-of-grace) / [Mary](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/mary) / [Mary in the Movies](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/mary-in-the-movies) / [movie review](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/movie-review) / [Outside da Box](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/outside-da-box)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/02/syria-human-dignity-and-the-responsibility-to-protect)
## [Syria, Human Dignity, and the Responsibility to Protect](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/02/syria-human-dignity-and-the-responsibility-to-protect)
Published by [Robert G. Christian III](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/robert-g-christian-iii)
# Human Dignity vs. the Throwaway Culture
Human dignity is innate by virtue of each human person being made in the image of God. It is independent of a person’s role in society, talents and weaknesses, and demographic profile. Each person is entirely unique and irreplaceable. The persecuted, the degraded, the humiliated person has dignity. No one can strip a person of his or her dignity, even if the...
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[May 02, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/02/syria-human-dignity-and-the-responsibility-to-protect)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [just war theory](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/just-war-theory) / [Syria](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/syria) / [human dignity](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/human-dignity) / [refugees](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/refugees) / [responsibility to protect](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/responsibility-to-protect) / [robertgchristian](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/robertgchristian)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/02/family-careers-and-sexuality-spiritual-trends-in-college-men-of-faith)
## [Family, Careers, and Sexuality: Spiritual Trends in College Men of Faith](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/02/family-careers-and-sexuality-spiritual-trends-in-college-men-of-faith)
Published by [Daniel A. Zepp](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/daniel-a-zepp)
*Where are the men? How do we get more men involved and engaged in our ministries?* I hear these questions time and time again from people across the country in my travels as an educator, minister, and scholar. I hear them from every population: priests, nuns, brothers, pastors, lay ministers, catechists, parishioners, teachers, and coaches. I hear them in every context: parishes, churches, colleges...
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[May 02, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/05/02/family-careers-and-sexuality-spiritual-trends-in-college-men-of-faith)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [college](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/college) / [sexuality](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/sexuality) / [danielazepp](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/danielazepp) / [family](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/family) / [masculinity](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/masculinity) / [men](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/men) / [pornography](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/pornography)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/25/the-virtue-of-tenderness-david-foster-wallace-and-the-practice-of-love)
## [The Virtue of Tenderness: David Foster Wallace and the Practice of Love](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/25/the-virtue-of-tenderness-david-foster-wallace-and-the-practice-of-love)
Published by [Medi Ann Volpe](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/medi-ann-volpe)
In 2005 David Foster Wallace gave the commencement address at Kenyon College. The speech, which has acquired the title “[This is Water,](http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~drkelly/DFWKenyonAddress2005.pdf)” still makes the rounds on the Internet regularly.[\[1\]](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture#_edn1) When I first heard it, blaring from my computer while I was giving my daughters a bath, I was struck by how compelling it is, and how close Wallace comes to telling the graduating class of 2005 that to flourish ...
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[April 25, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/25/the-virtue-of-tenderness-david-foster-wallace-and-the-practice-of-love)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [mediannvolpe](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/mediannvolpe) / [tenderness](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/tenderness) / [David Foster Wallace](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/david-foster-wallace) / [idolatry](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/idolatry) / [Pope Francis](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/pope-francis) / [This is Water](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/this-is-water) / [worship](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/worship)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/04/tearing-down-the-dividing-wall-improvising-reconciliation-on-the-u-s-mexico-border)
## [“Tearing Down the Dividing Wall”: Improvising Reconciliation on the U.S.-Mexico Border](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/04/tearing-down-the-dividing-wall-improvising-reconciliation-on-the-u-s-mexico-border)
Published by [Esther Terry](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/esther-terry)
It all began with a couple of nuns serving meals out of the trunk of their car. The food was for hungry people who arrived in Nogales, Sonora, deported from the United States to Mexico. Every day the sisters would prepare as much food as they could carry and drive to the border’s port of entry, where daily busses would leave bewildered immigrants in an unfamiliar city. Today, this operation has ev...
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[April 04, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/04/tearing-down-the-dividing-wall-improvising-reconciliation-on-the-u-s-mexico-border)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [deportation](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/deportation) / [estherterry](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/estherterry) / [Kino Border Initiative](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/kino-border-initiative) / [U.S.-Mexico border](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/u-s-mexico-border) / [immigration](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/immigration)
[](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/04/a-culture-of-encounter-root-and-fruit-of-human-dignity)
## [A Culture of Encounter: Root and Fruit of Human Dignity](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/04/a-culture-of-encounter-root-and-fruit-of-human-dignity)
Published by [Danielle Peters](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/author/danielle-peters)
It happened on November 6, 2013. At the end of his weekly general audience with approximately 50,000 attendees, Pope Francis caught sight of a man in his fifties. He was sitting in a wheelchair and accompanied by his aunt Lotto who recalled: “We didn’t think we would be so close to the Pope, but the Swiss Guard kept ushering us forward until we were in a corner in the front row. When he came close...
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[April 04, 2016](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/2016/04/04/a-culture-of-encounter-root-and-fruit-of-human-dignity)
[Essays](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/essays) / [Culture](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/culture) / [human dignity](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/human-dignity) / [Mary](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/mary) / [Pope Francis](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/pope-francis) / [vocation](https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/category/essays/topic/vocation)
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