By JOSEPH MATT Satan continues to tighten his grip on the direction of our culture. In just the past couple of weeks, our nation has witnessed brutality and evil revealing themselves in shocking and exponential ways. We have seen the savage murder of a beautiful young Ukrainian immigrant on the Charlotte light rail, the ruthless killing of two young children at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, and now, the assassination of a public figure—Charlie Kirk—murdered for holding ideas contrary to a growing segment of our population. Many within that segment have already succumbed to, and even embraced, the very arguments of Satan himself. Shockingly, some reactions on social media fanned the flames of this evil further by openly celebrating the assassination. How did we get here? How can such things happen in a nation once founded on faith and moral order? Consider how quickly our culture has embraced abortion on demand—even up to, and after, birth. Reflect on the public acceptance of same-sex marriage,
By JOSEPH MATT This past month, our state of Minnesota was shaken by another brutal and tragic event — the cold-blooded murder of Minnesota State Legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Our prayers and acts of charity should be directed toward the souls of the victims and the comfort of their grieving families. It is not our place to judge their eternal fate; rather, we entrust them to God’s mercy. The widely publicized Catholic funeral Mass that followed this horrific event had the potential to offer solace and a sense of closure to those in attendance. Unfortunately, it instead carried an undercurrent of political messaging and gave rise to public scandal. A clear dissonance emerged between the public praise of Hortman’s Catholic faith and her public political record, which stood in stark contradiction to fundamental Catholic moral teachings. A brief overview of the legislation championed by Representative Melissa Hortman during her tenure as Speaker of the Minnesota House reveals a deeply troubling record. She