The 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously declared, “God is dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown.” Nietzsche here expresses a central claim of the modern era: the non-existence of God and the enduring faith of the foolish—those…

All Catholics worth their salt know that love is the meaning of life. In the First Letter of St John, we read that “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8), and in response to the lawyer of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus confirms that the summation of the law and prophets is found in love, affirming, “You shall…