Randall Smith
Massachusetts
Curious about why humans do what they do | advisor & coach at @GetPowerLabs | write a newsletter for organizers
Articles by Randall Smith
The State of ESG Investing: How Dire Is It?
Investors have pulled billions, funds have closed and proxy voting is down. But proponents say the strategy remains viable, even if it’s pursued more quietly.
Pope Leo XIV sends 100K euros to Venezuela for humanitarian aid after major earthquakes
Pope Leo XIV sends 100K euros to Venezuela for humanitarian aid after major earthquakes By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú for EWTN News Venezuela was hit by two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude on June 24. Pope Leo XIV speaks in St. Peter’s Square at the general audience on May 27, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV has sent 100,000 euros (about $114,000) in humanitarian aid to Venezuela following two devastating earthquakes that hit the country on June 24.
Just-War Reflections, by Randall Smith
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AI Humans and the Real Limits of Machines
AI Humans and the Real Limits of Machines A warning about the inhumanity of humans dealing with other humans, especially in the workings of modern bureaucracy. (Image: Immo Wegmann / Unsplash.com) I read recently in The Atlantic Monthly that artificial intelligence firms are hiring and paying big salaries to philosophers to help them think through the issues facing the developers of AI. They can send me a check, but I’ll give them some advice for free. Limitations little discussed Why those two?
The World As the Womb of Divine Love, by Randall Smith
Catholic Morality and Social Concerns, by James Kalb June 8, 2026 Fr. Francesco Giordano: From Gift to Product: The Logic of IVF, Abortion, Eugenics, and Transhumanism June 8, 2026 By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, June 8, 2026 Randall Smith holds the J. Michael Miller Endowed Chair of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.
Crossing Yourself When You Enter the Church, by Randall Smith
By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, April 14, 2026 Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His latest book is From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body. Many readers here likely witnessed Baptisms recently, especially if they went to the Easter Vigil Mass. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we seem to have been blessed with a good number of Baptisms this year.
Poetry in Church
Augustine admits in Confessions that when he was young, he did not like the Scriptures; he found the language ugly and uninspiring. He preferred Cicero and Virgil. Worse yet, some things in the Scriptures caused him to think Christianity was ridiculous. Who would be so naïve as to think that God has a right hand? God doesn’t have a body! What a bunch of rubes Christians must be.
Remember That You Are Dust
The second Creation story in the Book of Genesis states that “the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Although man was formed bodily from the dust of the earth, it was by God’s divine breath that he became a living being. This conjoining of the dust of the earth and the divine breath is what made man a rational animal. The whole man, body and soul, is created in the image and likeness of God.
Truth Is a Good, by Randall Smith
Philosophers since the time of Plato have spoken about the “transcendental” properties of being – properties that all beings have, such as Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Something we might learn from this list is that truth is a good. No one wants to be lied to. We want bread; we want the truth. We may even want the truth more than we want bread. The truth is desirable, like beauty. The truth moves us the way beauty does.
Truth Is a Good - The Catholic Thing
Philosophers since the time of Plato have spoken about the “transcendental” properties of being – properties that all beings have, such as Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Something we might learn from this list is that truth is a good. No one wants to be lied to. We want bread; we want the truth. We may even want the truth more than we want bread. The truth is desirable, like beauty. The truth moves us the way beauty does.
Sacerdotal Storytellers
The patron saint of journalists is St. Francis de Sales – whose feast is today, 24 January. The Holy Father’s annual message for the World Day of Social Communications is dated for the feast in his honor. St. Francis (1567-1622) was certainly a writer, but not every writer is a journalist.
Evangelizing in Silence, by Randall Smith
A few years back, there was some energy and zeal around something people called “the new evangelization.” I never quite knew what it meant, but I am in favor of evangelizing, so anything serving that goal seems good to me. But as long as people are thinking about new kinds of evangelization, I would like to suggest one. Allow me to begin, however, if I may, with what should be for all devoted Catholics a very disturbing statistic.
Teaching Beauty - The Catholic Thing
There are many reasons people come into the Catholic Church, but a common one is their experience of its beauty: the beauty of the art, the architecture, the music, and the liturgy. Too often, those whose goal is “evangelizing” ignore the beauty expressed and embodied in the Church’s artistic tradition. Why?
Are Climate Change and Immigration Policy New Articles of Faith?
Has the Church turned global politics into dogma? In this charged episode, Raymond Arroyo convenes the Prayerful Posse—Father Gerald Murray and Robert Royal—to tackle whether climate change activism and immigration policy have become new “articles of faith” within the Catholic Church. From the Pope’s remarks on immigration and U.S. border enforcement to his global appeals on climate change, the Posse questions whether Rome’s moral focus has drifted from salvation toward social ideology.
Private Equity Is Coming to Your 401(k). Should You Buy In?
Try GOLD - Free The Wall Street Journal | October 06, 2025 Critics say opaque returns and higher costs make private equity a risky bet for retirement savers WITH private-equity funds on their way into workplace retirement plans, savers face a crucial question: Are they worth adding to my portfolio? This story is from the October 06, 2025 edition of The Wall Street Journal. Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Private Equity Is Coming to Your 401(k). Should You Buy In?
With private-equity funds on their way into workplace retirement plans, savers face a choice that matters: Are they worth adding to my portfolio? The model has generated outsize gains for some investors in the years since the financial crisis, especially institutions like pension funds and high-net-worth individuals. Now, however, the Trump administration is working on rules that would let retirement plans offer private-equity funds and other “alternative investments” to ordinary investors.
Pro-Choice ‘Catholic’? by Randall Smith
So, Cardinal Cupich has decided to honor pro-abortion Senator Dick Durbin. The chancery office says that they are honoring him for things other than his support for abortion, but that’s like honoring Bill Cosby for the wonderful things he did other than his mistreatment of women. No one would accept that. The obvious conclusion would be that you just don’t care about the mistreatment of women – or at least not as much as you should.
Dating Advice for Young Catholic Men, by Randall Smith
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The Joy(?) of Working for the Catholic Church, by Randall Smith
Catholic Filmmaker Anthony D’Ambrosio Champions St. Maximilian Kolbe’s ‘Triumph of the Heart’, by Abigail Galván August 5, 2025 Free Speech for Me But Not for Thee, by John Zmirak August 5, 2025 By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, Aug. 5, 2025 Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His latest book is From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body.
Traditional Liturgy, by Randall Smith
When I get exasperated by some of the failures in contemporary liturgical practice and annoyed by the perpetual arguments over it, I am tempted to exclaim: Okay, that’s it. We need to return to the traditional Catholic liturgy! You know what I mean. The Mass in Greek. Every other liturgy is a later translation and not always a reliable one.
非米国株投資のチャンス 配分比率どうする？
2008～09年の世界金融危機以降、米国株に後れを取っていた外国株が最近、アウトパフォームし始めている。投資家には次のような疑問が浮かぶだろう。投資ポートフォリオに占める外国株の比率はどのくらいが適切なのか。 多くの米国の投資家はこの点をあまり考えていない。ニュースでは主にダウ工業株30種平均やS&P500種指数、ナスダック総合指数といった米国の主要株価指数を取り上げるからだ。そのうえ過去15年ほどは米国株に注力した方が良好な運用成績を上げられた。 Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Why Suffering? by Randall Smith
Many of us know that we’re supposed to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Christ. We might also know that Christ, although He is the Son of God and the Son of Man, the great messianic figure prophesied in Daniel (7:13-14), is also the “Suffering Servant,” whose sufferings bring about our redemption, described in four “servant songs” in Isaiah. (42:1 – 53:12) Knowing all this, we might still wonder: Why must we suffer?
Letter and Spirit, by Randall Smith
I’ve never really understood this idea that you can follow the “spirit” but not the “letter” of a Biblical commandment or Church teaching.
The CUInsight Experience
★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.8 via 98 ratings in Apple Podcasts and Spotify The CUInsight Experience podcast is hosted by Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com, and co-hosted by Jill Nowacki, founder, president, and CEO of Humanidei. In each episode, they engage in wide-ranging conversations about credit unions, leadership lessons, and life. Join them as they dive deep into topics that help us become better leaders and strengthen our movement, uncovering valuable insights that we can all learn from. Host: . .
On Choosing Your Enemies, by Randall Smith
There’s an old saying, “Choose your enemies wisely; you become like them.” As the years have passed, I have seen more and more illustrations of it – children, for example, who hated their parents but then became like them. Indeed, there was a whole generation of Boomers who made “the older generation” into their enemies.
Un renacimiento católico
Hace poco leí un artículo de una profesora que describía cómo, hace años, expresaba su entusiasmo en una reunión del Departamento de Inglés de su universidad jesuita acerca de un curso sobre poesía católica que había desarrollado. Experimentó cierta resistencia. Finalmente, un miembro veterano del departamento "que parecía hablar tanto por sí mismo como por sus escépticos colegas" anunció: "Alguien va a tener que demostrarme que ésta es una forma legítima de abordar el estudio de la literatura".
A Catholic Renaissance, by Randall Smith
I read an article recently by a professor who described how, years ago, she was expressing enthusiasm at an English Department meeting at her Jesuit university about a course on Catholic poetry that she had developed. She experienced some resistance.
Leave the Synod, Take the Cannoli, by Randall Smith
Pres. Joe Biden: “The Only Garbage I See Floating Out There is (Trump’s) Supporters” Catholic World News: Papal Abuse Commission Presents First Annual Report By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, Oct. 30, 2024 Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His latest book is From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body.
What Conservatives, Catholics, and All Americans Can Learn from Israel
The fall semester has begun in American universities, and with it, anti-Israel protests and subtle, or not-so-subtle, anti-Semitic calls for the annihilation of Israel. Protesting has become a serious business, it seems (although not serious enough to interrupt summer vacations), and thanks to faculty pressure, it is unlikely that students on many campuses will suffer any repercussions for their ugly actions.
Voting for the Millstone, by Randall Smith
By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, September 3, 2024 Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His latest book is From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body.
Whose Oppressive Discourse? by Randall Smith
A Protestant friend told me recently that he heard a woman professor say that the Bible is filled with “oppressive discourse.” Some people talk this way and teach others to do so as well. Some even demand that Biblical language or discourse based on Biblical language be banned. (Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. would have run afoul of these people constantly and have little left to say.) How to respond?
Don’t ask your bank customers if they’re happy. Watch what they do, instead.
Measuring customer satisfaction — the degree to which your customers are happy with the products and services your company provides—is a persistent challenge that seems only to get harder. Four recent perspectives summarized below put a fine point on it: The data we gather is increasingly unreliable or incomplete; and getting it right demands the kind of sophisticated digital infrastructure that most retail organizations, including banks, simply don’t have.
Strong US retail sales boost first-quarter growth estimates
U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in March amid a surge in receipts at online retailers, further evidence that the economy ended the first quarter on solid ground. The report from the Commerce Department on Monday, which followed news this month of robust employment gains in March and a pick-up in consumer inflation, bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve could delay cutting interest rates until September. Some economists see the window for lowering rates this year closing.
3 CD moves to make with inflation increasing
News last week that inflation rose the month prior (after increasing in the month before that) wasn’t welcome for millions of Americans, but particularly for borrowers. Not only has inflation made the cost of many everyday products prohibitive, but it’s also resulted in higher interest rates in an attempt to rein it in, thus making loans and credit cards more expensive. And while those higher rates haven’t benefited borrowers, they’ve resulted in a great earnings opportunity for savers.
US job openings rise slightly; labor market steadily easing
U.S. job openings edged up in February, though labor market conditions are gradually easing in support of expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates by June. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, from the Labor Department on Tuesday showed there were 1.36 vacancies for every unemployed person in February, down from 1.43 in January. The decline in the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio reflected a spike in unemployment at the start of the year.
Truly, This Man Was the Son Of God, by Randall Smith
One of the strangest lines in the Gospels is uttered by the centurion at the foot of the Cross. In Mark, we are told that when he saw that Jesus had “breathed his last,” he said: “Truly this man was the Son of God.” (15:39) One would have thought this was the last thing a person would say after seeing a man die. Everyone knows that the one thing gods don’t do is die.
US manufacturing sector grows for the first time in 1-1/2 years
U.S. manufacturing grew for the first time in 1-1/2 years in March as production rebounded sharply and new orders increased, but employment at factories remained subdued and prices for inputs pushed higher. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday that its manufacturing PMI increased to 50.3 last month, the highest and first reading above 50 since September 2022, from 47.8 in February.
Apple in talks to let Google's Gemini power iPhone AI features, Bloomberg News says
Apple (AAPL.O) is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the situation. The negotiations are about licensing Gemini for some new features coming to the iPhone software this year, the report said, adding that the terms or branding of an AI agreement or how it would be implemented have not been decided. Alphabet shares jumped more than 6% in early U.S. trading, while Apple was up 2.5%.
Gasoline, shelter costs drive US inflation higher in February
U.S. consumer prices increased solidly in February amid higher costs for gasoline and shelter, suggesting stickiness in inflation that cast some doubts on whether the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates in June. February marked the second straight month of firmer inflation readings. Inflation-weary Americans, however, got some relief from their grocery bills, as food prices were unchanged.
Will mortgage rates drop below 6% in 2024? Here's what some experts think
The US economy is in a tricky spot. To close out 2023, fourth quarter GDP measured at a robust 3.3% annual growth rate, but inflation remains above the Fed’s desired 2% target, so the central bank has yet to cut interest rates. Still, many expect that rate cuts will come this year as the economy and inflation cool down more. For the mortgage market, that could also mean that rates come down. Already, 30-year mortgage rates have fallen from recent highs.
Eucharistic Faith and the Survey, by Randall Smith
44% of Dem Voters Say Biden Has Worked to ‘Systematically Undermine’ U.S. Border Security, by Craig Bannister By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, Jan. 23, 2024 Randall B. Smith is a Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His latest book is From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body. A disturbing 2019 Pew survey found that only a third of Catholics believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ.
Speak Your Piece: Board Majority’s Reckless Votes Destroy Future Fiscal Stability
Shasta County has a long, sad, sordid history of improper land use practices. These hurtful decisions date to over a century ago. Jurors deliberating effects of the “Smoke Wars 1896-1917” were paid by local mine owners. ”Experts” gave testimony that sulfur dioxide from open coking of mine ore had nothing to do with fruit trees dying as far away as Happy Valley.
The Best and Brightest? by Randall Smith
The term “the best and brightest” often appears lately to refer to the students at elite Ivy League universities. Sometimes it’s used ironically, as when people ask of the students demonstrating for Hamas: “These are America’s best and brightest?” Well, no. But then again, they never were. This isn’t merely a comment on our purportedly “elite” academic institutions.
The CUPP | Episode 28: The best of Berger: A fond farewell to Dan Berger
Join NAFCU President & CEO Dan Berger, ahead of the transformation to America’s Credit Unions, as he looks back on his time at NAFCU, the moments that shaped his experience, and lessons learned during his tenure. Key takeaways Gain valuable insights into important qualities of a strong credit union leader; Learn about the biggest risk areas facing credit unions in the years to come; and Reminisce with Dan Berger as he prepares to leave the helm of NAFCU.
Top Goldman Sachs analyst says the world is moving into a new super cycle
The global economy is moving into a new “super cycle,” with artificial intelligence and decarbonization being driving factors, according to Peter Oppenheimer, the head of macro research in Europe at Goldman Sachs. “We are moving clearly into a different super cycle,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Monday. Super cycles are commonly defined as lengthy periods of economic expansion, often accompanied by growing GDP, strong demand for goods leading to higher prices, and high levels of employment.
CUNA publishes analysis of updated CDFI Certification Application
CUNA Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel Elizabeth Sullivan posted initial analysis of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI Certification Application on CUNA’s Compliance Community. While it will take weeks to dig into the complete details, Sullivan notes that the application changes appear to be ultimately positive.
November jobs report gives ‘mixed messages’
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed 199,000 jobs were added in November. Gains in October remained the same and September was revised down 35,000. NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long provided insights in a new Macro Data Flash report. “The November jobs report was one with mixed messages,” said Long. “The household survey was stronger than the establishment survey, resulting in the first drop in the unemployment rate since July.
Here's where mortgage rates and home prices are heading, according to Zillow and Redfin
Some semblance of a buyer’s market in real estate could finally be on the way in 2024, bringing to a close a year of low inventory and record high prices. But don’t get too excited; it will likely be a slow change. That’s according to new housing market predictions from real estate companies Redfin and Zillow. Both are forecasting that buyers will see some improvements in terms of inventory and prices in 2024.
CUNA, NAFCU, trades request comment deadline extension for Fed's interchange proposal
CUNA, NAFCU, and other financial services organizations requested the Federal Reserve extend the deadline for its interchange proposal by at least 90 days in a letter sent Wednesday. The Fed proposed the changes at an October meeting, and comments are currently due Feb. 12. CUNA, NAFCU, Leagues, and credit unions strongly oppose changes to the current interchange system and are collaborating on a response with other financial services stakeholders.
NAFCU’s Long: FOMC minutes indicate potential for rate cut in early 2024
In recently released minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest meeting, members indicated they would be hesitant to raise rates again, unless economic data indicated insufficient progress in lowering inflation to its 2 percent target. “The minutes from the October FOMC meeting reaffirm that the committee believes monetary policy is currently restrictive,” said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long.
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