Every salesman worth his commission check knows that his greatest ally is urgency. If the customers need something now, they are often willing to pay more for it or purchase it on impulse. Absent a pressing need, there are many strategies to build that sense of urgency, like saying that supplies are limited or offering … Read more
On September 13, 1597, a Guale warrior named Juanillo attacked and killed Father Pedro de Corpa in what is now the state of Georgia. On January 27, 2025, Pope Francis authorized a decree designating Father de Corpa and four companions as martyrs. The four-and-a-quarter-century trip between those two points illustrates the power of virtue over … Read more
If there is a single symbol of how retailing has changed over the years, it is the self-service checkout terminal. Fortunately, this innovation may be fading from the scene. Great Expectations… A Kroger grocery store in Deerfield Beach, Florida, is credited with the first use of such a device in July 1986. From the retailers’ … Read more
Imagination is one of God’s great gifts to humanity. It is essential to any good work. We would never begin any task without imagining that its completion will, somehow, either make life better for us or serve God and others. As children, we all imagined what our future would be. As we age, we tend … Read more
Just before the end of the year, the State of California notified all those concerned with the welfare of children of a newly revised policy necessitated by the passage of Senate Bill 407 in 2023. To implement the new law, an “all county letter” from the California Health and Human Services Agency went out on … Read more
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, many successful young people feel old. The pressures of life weigh heavily upon them as their chaotic lifestyles take their toll. Middle Age in their Thirties? “‘Young people are feeling older and feeling pressure a lot sooner in their lives,’ says Tirrell De Gannes, a licensed clinical … Read more
The environmentalists used to pretend that theirs was a vital grass-roots movement. However, today, the pseudo-popular movement is an arm of a massive bureaucracy full of contradictions. One such contradiction is the promotion of “degrowth” as a means of sustainability. Order Today: Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve … Read more
On December 12, 2024, The New York Times published a piece titled “It’s Time to Talk About Pornography, Scholars Say.” It cited a sobering 2023 survey showing that almost three-quarters of American adolescents under seventeen have viewed pornographic materials. Much of the piece talked about the harmful, misleading and unrealistic nature of indecent literature, photographs … Read more
Articles about the decline of Christianity abound, most of them based on some form of public polling. For instance, in January 2024, the Pew Research Center posited that twenty-eight percent of American adults are “religiously unaffiliated,” up from sixteen percent in 2007. Why is the Bible Gaining Popularity? So, the recent news that Bible sales … Read more
As a priest, missionary, pastor and bishop, Saint John Nepomucene Neumann (1811-1860) frequently confronted anti-Catholic persecution. Catholic thinker and man of action Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira made many commentaries on this aspect of American history and the role of Saint John Neumann in fighting against this persecution. The Brazilian author of the work Revolution … Read more
