In this essay contemplating how quickly we seem to forget even the most inspiring individuals once they die, Regis Martin ties his thoughts together with a poem in which he finds hope for "the Christ note of victory at the very end".
In this second piece from Crisis Magazine, Anthony Esolen, writing about moral philosophy, constructs a "ladder of moral descent" that shows clearly the stages of evil. Quoting a perfectly chilling article on how to convince a "girlfriend" to get an abortion, Esolen provides incisive commentary on the proposed arguments.
In this lengthy piece for First Things, divided into nine meaty parts, Dana Gioia examines the state of Catholic imaginative literature, successfully cataloging the problems, though not quite pinpointing the cause. His review of the Catholic literary scene from 1945 to 1964 is especially compelling when compared to post-Vatican II times.