Tom Hoopes
Atchison
Writer in residence, Benedictine College, Kansas, editor of TheGregorian.com ... columnist at Aleteia.org
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Articles by Tom Hoopes
What our new big horror movies say about us
Horror movies are huge right now, gaining critical acclaim and box office success, and I think I know why. Our stories help us process truths we can’t face straightforwardly: Dramas help us process tension in relationships, science fiction helps us think about the changing world, and horror movies allow us to acknowledge the supernatural forces we fear.
Benedictine’s new medical school takes step forward
A proposed new Catholic medical school just reached a key stage in its development at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. It has been given Candidate Status by accreditors — a rare, crucial step, according to Founding Dean Marla Golden, DO, MS, FACEP. “Our attention now turns to the next major step of achieving Pre-Accreditation Status,” she said.
Jesus the Great Persuader knew marketing
Looked at one way, Jesus was radical and demanding -- commanding people to change themselves and spelling out the dire consequences for those who don’t. He didn’t mince words or pull his punches, but we don’t think of him as a severe and strict taskmaster, because he knew the art of persuasion. In many ways Jesus was the antithesis of modern marketing. The 1980s book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind is taught in business schools to this day. Its authors wrote, “Advertising is not a debate.
4 Saints’ 4 rules for sharing the faith
I defended the discipline of marketing at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday at the Fall Conference of the DeNicola Center for Ethics and Culture. I was responding to a paper at another academic conference — the Symposium on Transforming Culture at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. It was all very academic. But I wanted to share my main points here, because it bears repeating: We are not just “Church” people sharing the Gospel in a “churchy” way.
Mary is patroness of library dedicated by Justice Barrett
It’s October, the month of the Rosary, and at Benedictine College, where I work, the first mass gathering at our new library was at the opening school 7 am Rosary. The library is designed to look like Independence Hall, but it was also built to put Mary front and center. When the library was dedicated September 26, President Minnis stressed Our Lady’s involvement. The dedication was attended by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, but Minnis pointed to a more important woman instead.
Goodness, truth, and beauty: Accept no substitutes
I warn my students at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kanas, not to be fooled by cheap substitutes for what they are seeking. And I know exactly what they are seeking. “Why was the world created?” the Compendium of the Catechism asks, and answers: “for the glory of God who wished to show forth and communicate his goodness, truth, and beauty” (No. 53).
The Catholic Heroes of 9/11
The Register was there to report on extraordinary acts from ordinary Catholics 25 years ago. Firefighter Gerard McGibbon, of Engine 283 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, prays after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a terrorist attack that killed some 3,000 people.
Choosing humanity over technology is easier said than done
If there is one thing Pope Leo XIV really wants Catholics to do in the face of the artificial intelligence revolution, it’s to choose human beings over machines, even when it’s hard, even when it doesn’t seem as if it matters. “The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization,” he writes in Magnifica Humanitas (No. 213). It’s easier said than done.
How to catch up on unfiled sales tax returns
Missed sales tax filings can happen at any time, and for many reasons. The team might experience gaps when compliance providers or forget to activate an autofile system. The state may increase the required filing frequency, and the company might miss the notice. Whatever caused the gap, the first instinct is to file the missing returns as quickly as possible. In reality, moving too quickly can cause additional problems, especially if the scope of the problem isn’t clear.
On British country lanes, Our Lady led me to her Son
God accepts infants, no questions asked, at baptism. But at some point the baby grows up and has to answer for his faith. I told you how I learned to accept the first four baptismal promises. That left the last two: “Do you believe in Jesus Christ? … Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?” At 19, I could finally say “Yes” at Easter. But first, I had to help carry an eight-foot cross 160 miles down English country lanes. If my Juliet was like Shakespeare, the next part of my story was like Chaucer.
In England, Juliet’s phone number drove me to God
The fourth question the congregation answers when we renew our baptismal promises is “Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?” My answer was definitely Yes during my first two semesters in the great books program I told you about. But then I went home. When I came home from San Francisco, Arizona looked more like a desert than ever. At school I had experienced friendship, studied great thoughts, but hadn’t yet taken the two key classes I described.
Preferring darkness, I found light
The third promise you make when you renew your baptismal promises is, “Do you reject Satan, father of lies and prince of darkness?” The congregation says “I do,” but when I began college, I didn’t. I would have told you that the truth were lies — and I preferred the darkness. In my freshman year at the University of Arizona, my life mostly took place in the dark. I had all the things college is supposed to give you — politically correct classes, a girlfriend, and parties with friends.
Guadalupe and the Pyramid of the Sun unmasked the glamor of evil
When you renew your baptismal promises at Mass, the priest asks: “Do you reject the glamor of evil and refuse to be mastered by sin?” I didn’t know what that meant when I was 17, but I was about to find out — on the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico a few hours after an old woman hissed at me, like an angry cat, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It happened the summer I turned 18 as a University of Arizona student in an immersive Spanish program in Guadalajara.
Finding freedom in a burnt Cadillac
“Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?” asks the priest. “I do,” responds the congregation renewing their baptismal promises. “I don’t,” I said as a teenager, refusing to be confirmed. “Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?” sounded absurd to me, like, “Do you reject half of the products in the store, so that you’ll have more choices when you shop?” I didn’t buy it. But the Church was right about what I wanted: I wanted freedom.
Seis lecciones de vida de “La Odisea” de Christopher Nolan
¿Qué pasaría si el mundo hubiera perdido todo aquello que lo mantenía unido? Un mundo desorientado, donde las familias están fragmentadas, donde la violencia parece haber suplantado la fraternidad y el sentido de lo divino se ha desvanecido gradualmente. Es en este mundo tumultuoso donde Telémaco, un joven que crece sin su padre y busca un sentido a la vida, se desarrolla.
5 Lessons for our time from Nolan’s “The Odyssey”
Imagine a world where men are acting like pigs, the ties to God and family that once rooted society are gone, and people have become crass and violent. Now imagine you are a young man feeling unable to start your life in that world, feeling abandoned by your father and doubting your purpose. That is the story of the world outside your door — and the world of Christopher Nolan’s new movie The Odyssey. The answers the movie proposes are insightful and important.
Seth Rogen is right, but kids are still worth it
People keep seeing videos pop up online from the comedian Seth Rogen making his argument that he is glad he doesn’t have kids. Of course, lots of people are pushing back on the sentiment, and I will too. But I wanted to admit here that he gets a lot right. First, Seth is right: Often, having kids is way less fun than it should be. In his newly surfacing Kelly Clarkson Show interview, Rogen said: “People describe having kids as like brief glimmering moments of beauty amongst a sea of pain.
250 Reasons Catholics should celebrate America’s 250th
Because of what Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, is doing for America’s 250th birthday on July 4, I keep getting the question: Is America really something Catholics should be celebrating? Here are the 250 reasons my answer is “Yes!” Reasons 1-5 are from the U.S. bishops.
Paul (and Jesus) on the death obsession
“Why Are Millennials and Gen Z So Obsessed With Death?” Vice News asked. The signs are all around: “GriefTok” is popular on TikTok and “Tombstone Tourism” is now a thing. Commentators blame the fascination with death on the pandemic, or the aging population, or the constant exposure to foreign wars and catastrophes on social media. But I am with St. Paul: I blame the human condition, and the need for baptism.
Without the Incredible Hulk, I wouldn’t be Catholic
When I read what the Polish Holy Father wrote about the Apostles to the Slavs, I think of two Polish apostles to the slob, the “slob” being me.
7 obras de misericordia para hacer sin moverte de tu silla
En su momento, has hecho la Novena de la Divina Misericordia. Veneras la imagen de la Divina Misericordia. Asististe a la misa del Domingo de la Divina Misericordia. A diario rezas la Coronilla de la Misericordia. Aún falta una cosa: realizar las obras de misericordia - y esas son para todo el año - .
I was surprised when I learned about the Real Presence
The National Eucharistic Congress continues with an annual National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. The US bishops began the enormously successful Eucharistic Revival after a poll several years ago suggested that only 31% of Catholics actually believe what the Church believes about the Eucharist. I was surprised by that poll, too. I was surprised the number of believers was as high as it was.
5 Hidden lessons in the 5 Joyful Mysteries
St. Augustine said, “God is infinite so that we will continue to seek for him even after we have found him.” That’s why the Gospel gives you more every time you read it — and why the Rosary, a review of the Gospel, does the same. I’ve written many articles (and a book!) about the Rosary, but I keep finding new hidden lessons (hidden to me anyway). Here are five of the latest. The First Joyful Mystery is Mary’s “Call to adventure.” We receive ours, too.
This Sunday, The Trinity Means We are Not the Children of Divorce
The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that God is One and God is three. That changes everything for us. Here are six takeaways for Trinity Sunday Year A drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast. First: The only way we find rest in God is by entering into his community of love. The Compendium of the Catechism is remarkable for its brevity.
Discouraged? Fed Up With Religion? 7 Ways the Holy Spirit Can Help
If Christianity doesn’t feel like it should, check in with the Holy Spirit. Christianity can often seem to fall short of its promises. Christ promises a “peace beyond understanding,” but we have stress beyond imagining. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” but daily prayer can feel like a daily cross. St. Augustine says, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” but our hearts can’t even rest enough to sleep well at night.
7 Ways the Spirit can help if you’re discouraged or burnt out
Christianity can often seem to fall short of its promises. Christ promises a “peace beyond understanding,” but we have stress beyond imagining. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always,” but daily prayer feels like a daily cross. St. Augustine says, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” but our hearts can’t even rest enough to sleep well at night. Remembering his many titles, here are seven ways the Holy Spirit can help. First, let the Advocate advocate for you.
This Sunday, Jesus Christ’s Last Breath Is a Driving Wind That Fills the Earth With Fire
Pentecost is springtime. The Holy Spirit comes in fire like the sun, in the breath of Christ like a refreshing breeze, and revivifies the Church like a beneficial rain. Here are six takeaways for Pentecost Sunday, Year A, drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast. First: When Jesus breathes on the Apostles, they remember his last breath. So should we.
What U.S. Catholics Can Learn From the Mexican Martyrs’ Heroism
“I am innocent and I die innocent.
‘Be Like Him’: Graduates Honor Alex Lynch a Week After His Death
“I want others to see Jesus when they look at me,” Alex Lynch used to say, and after his death people commented that this is exactly what happened.. On graduation weekend at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, the most powerful lesson for graduates came from a graduate who wasn’t there: Alex Lynch, a senior Finance major from Indianola, Iowa. He died of cancer a week before he graduated, but he was visible at commencement in the yellow ribbons most graduates wore to graduation.
Graduates honor a student a week after his death
“I want others to see Jesus when they look at me,” Alex Lynch used to say. On graduation weekend at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, the most powerful lesson for graduates came from a graduate who wasn’t there: Alex Lynch, a senior Finance major from Indianola, Iowa. He died of cancer a week before he graduated, but he was visible at commencement in the yellow ribbons most graduates wore to graduation.
This Sunday, Jesus Answers Our Doubt by Leaving Us in Charge
By Ascending into heaven, Jesus shows us how he handles our doubt this Sunday, the Seventh Sunday of Easter – Ascension Year A. He doesn’t answer every question we have: He puts us in charge of answering everyone else’s questions. Here are four takeaways for this Sunday’s readings, drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast. First: Pay close attention to what Jesus says in the Great Commission.
Fatima Refuses to Fade Away
May 13 is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. It celebrates the first of apparitions of Mary to three Portuguese shepherd children in 1917. Fatima’s popularity has waned and waxed over the years, but Fatima refuses to fade away entirely. Fatima always seems old but somehow keeps becoming new.
Seven Flawed Mothers Who Triumph in Catholic Literature
It doesn’t have to be Mother’s Day to review how mothers are presented in modern Catholic literature. At their best, these novels show how God works in the lives of ordinary people: Grace doesn’t make mothers perfect; it transforms their efforts despite, and even through, their imperfections. Here are some profound and realistic examinations of motherhood in Catholic fiction. Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited: The righteous mother and the sainted memory.
This Sunday, Your Baptism Is for Others, Not Just You
Last Sunday Jesus told his disciples on the night before he died that they will do “greater works” than his. This Sunday he spells out just how that is possible. Here are five takeaways for the Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A, drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast. First: the Church makes it clear that God wants more from our baptism than just our salvation.
Learn to Let Your Kids Go, Or They Will Let Go of You
A disconcerting thinghappens when your children become adults: They take you aside and tell you what you did wrong. And, if you still have kids at home, as my wife and I do, they tell you what you are currently doing wrong. Hearing what they have to say has actually been healing and helpful — like a root canal. It can also help us avoid becoming part of a new national trend that you have probably seen in your circle of friends: parents whose young adult children decide to go “no contact” with them.
Our Lady of May: Seven Things the Month and Mother Have in Common
In his poem “May Magnificat,” Gerard Manley Hopkins asks out loud why Catholic tradition dedicates May to Our Lady, when her major feasts and life events are elsewhere in the year. He writes: “May is Mary’s month, and I Muse at that and wonder why: Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season — • “Candlemas, Lady Day; But the Lady Month, May, Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honor?
7 Things Mary has in common with her month, May
May has been associated with Mary for centuries. It's a very appropriate association. First: May and Mary both have unique beginnings and endings. May is unique among the months, never beginning or ending on the same day of the week as any other month in a given calendar year — and Mary is unique among the saints, beginning by being preserved from sin and ending by being assumed into heaven. Second: May and Mary are both beautiful.
This Sunday, Jesus is the Way Out of the Jungle of Death
Imagine Jesus has taken you with his apostles into the middle of the South American jungle. On one side, you hear a drug cartel loading their guns. On the other, you hear frantic monkeys warning of a jaguar’s approach. The sun is setting and the darkness is becoming total. “Okay. I’m leaving you right here,” Jesus says. “I am going to get slaughtered. But don’t worry. It will be fine. I will take you to a home greater than you can imagine.” Then he starts to walk away.
Undoing Adam: Jesus Gave Us the ‘Our Father’ So We Would Ask God for Eden
I have been discovering this year how much the Kingdom of heaven is the central focus of the Christian life. God is a loving Father, and he wants us to live in the kingdom he made for us: the Paradise of the Garden of Eden. In Eden, God was king, and he made Adam and Eve in his “image and likeness” and gave us “dominion.” But we used our dominion in a terrible way: We rejected God and handed Eden over to his enemy. He has been undoing our action and re-Edenizing the world ever since.
The Our Father describes the Kingdom: It’s Eden
I have been discovering this year how much the Kingdom of heaven is the central focus of the Christian life. God is a loving Father, and he wants us to live in the kingdom he made for us, the Paradise of the Garden of Eden. In Eden, God was king, and he made Adam and Eve in his “image and likeness” and gave us “dominion.” But we used our dominion in a terrible way: We rejected God and handed Eden over to his enemy. He has been undoing our action and re-Edenizing the world ever since.
This Sunday, We the Sheep Wait for the One We Know
In the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A, Jesus Christ says that he is the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep. This is exactly what we have been waiting for — a great person who truly knows who we are, loves us as we are, and leads us where we want to go. Here are five takeaways for this Sunday’s Mass readings drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast. First: Jesus is great at finding the perfect analogy. He does that here.
Why Many Americans Are Deaf to the Pope’s Anti-War Message
Quite a few Americans are thrilled that Pope Leo XIV has become an important moral voice for peace, against the most powerful people in his home country. But quite a few Americans are furious for the same reason. They argue that the Pope only speaks out against American aggression (but they should check on that, like Newsweek did), and they argue that his calls for “no war” are a new and radical departure from Catholic theology’s understanding of Just War. I think I know why they feel this way.
This Sunday, Jesus, the ‘Undercover Boss,’ Is Seeking You Out, Too
The Gospel reading at Mass takes us back to the very first Easter Sunday, where two disciples are headed out of town as soon as they can after the crucifixion. We are on the same journey, and Jesus is talking to us, too — whether or not we notice. Here are five takeaways from the readings he Third Sunday of Easter, Year A, drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast. First: Luke takes pains to make this story both particular and universal.
15 Works of Mercy You Can Do Right Now, in Your Chair
Driving to an ordination in Indiana the weekend of Divine Mercy Sunday, my wife and I got to talking. We had done done the Divine Mercy Novena. We had venerated the Divine Mercy image. We had gone to confession and would soon attend Sunday Mass and seek the Divine Mercy Indulgence. But we were still missing one big thing: the Works of Mercy. St. Faustina, the originator of the Divine Mercy devotion, said this is a crucial part.
Do works of mercy without leaving your chair
You’ve done the Divine Mercy Novena. You’ve venerated the Divine Mercy image. You’ve gone to Divine Mercy Sunday Mass. There is still one thing missing: Doing the Acts of Mercy. “Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy,” St. Faustina wrote in her diary, “because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works.” The best way to fulfill the works of mercy is to serve others in person with love and care. More on that in a minute.
This Sunday, Divine Mercy Means We Are Hell-Bound Without Jesus
We would have no salvation without Jesus — in other words, we would be bound for hell. That’s Church teaching, but after years of de-emphasizing salvation, it seems almost scandalous to say it. All the same, if we don’t believe that, then the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus loses all its power. Here are five takeaways for this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy), drawn from Sunday Readings columns at this site and the Extraordinary Story podcast.
National Catholic Register News https://www.ncregister.com/news/franciscan-father-jean-claude-chupin-dies-at-94-4qodn8vr
Franciscan Father Jean-Claude Chupin, co-founder of the Community of the Lamb who died at 94, was known for living on the streets with the homeless and forming a global religious family rooted in prayer and poverty.
Model Christian: Mary Magdalene’s Forgotten Easter Virtues
Mary Magdalene is called “the apostle to the apostles” because she is the messenger to Jesus’ companions. But there is so much more. Apart from Jesus and St. Peter, Mary Magdalene is the saint most often mentioned in the Easter Gospels. Don’t miss the other ways she is a model for Christians in the Easter accounts. First: Mary Magdalene models the beatitudes and works of mercy.
Priest who united Franciscans and Dominicans dies on Easter
Lenten campaign 2026 This content is free of charge, as are all our articles. Support us with a donation and enable us to continue to reach millions of readers. Give now to support our mission A priest died on Easter Sunday — which was fitting after a life marked by the Christian paradox. He was a friend to popes and cardinals — but also lived with the homeless; he was a Franciscan — but also worked with Dominicans to found a new congregation. Father Jean-Claude Chupin O.FM.
Holy Saturday and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: A Lifetime in the Valley of Death
In many ways, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton lived a lifelong Holy Saturday. She saw many of her family members die young — from her mother in her childhood to her husband and two of her own children — and then joined them in death at the age of 46. Only Easter hope can sustain a soul through such a long trudge in the Valley of Death, and that is what St. Elizabeth Ann Seton had. Holy Saturday is a mysterious day in the Catholic Church. There is no Mass, except for the Easter Vigil that night.
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