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Issue II.I
Received: The Gift of Tradition
Unsolicited Submissions Due: Dec 18, 2026
The Better Part, an interdisciplinary journal of Catholic women’s thought, once again invites bold, original work for Issue II.I: Received: The Gift of Tradition.
In German, Gift means poison.
Not everything handed to us is good.
The postmodern era has been generous with its gifts: the promise of generative artificial “intelligence,” a human body that is engineered rather than received, scientific endeavors that offer “love” without sacrifice, and a culture that has no need of the past. We experience an unbridled freedom that was all but unimaginable a mere generation ago, and we rush to embrace this freedom without worrying about its cost.
Postmodernity has forgotten its heritage, but an older era remembers, and the stones cry out.
What they remember is Tradition—traditio, a handing over. Tradition is received, not produced; it is entrusted, not owned. It is sacred, and for those who remember well, Tradition renews, restores, and reminds. Tradition is not confined to tombs; it is embodied in liturgy and language, in craft and custom, in heritage and homes.
In this issue, we ask: Which gifts are poison, and how do we tell? What have we lost with the overthrowing of Tradition? Which gifts should be venerated, and which should be set aside?
We invite Catholic women of all vocations and backgrounds to explore the theme of “Received” across disciplines and experiences. We especially welcome submissions that explore the following:The “Democracy of the Dead”: Chesterton’s notion of receiving the wisdom of our ancestors: the Church Fathers, the doctors of the Church, the holy women of both Scripture and Church history, forgotten heritages of families and cultures, and philosophies that are dismissed by modern thought
Receptivity and Sacrifice: stories of receptivity and self-gift, from Mary’s fiat to the ordinary sacrifices of daily life
Wisdom from the Hearth and Home: prayers, recipes, songs, dialects, and customs handed down in homes and local communities, and what is lost when connectivity threatens to homogenize the world into one ill-formed culture
Inheritances That Wound: discerning the poison in that which has been given to us, from distorted piety to the false promises of modern society
The Dignity of Wonder: the Catholic roots of scientific inquiry and the forgotten conviction that reality is discovered, not created
The Stones That Speak: the sacred art, architecture, music, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art that carry Tradition to new generations
The previous lists are suggestions. We welcome all submissions that fit the theme of “Received.” Submissions may be academic or reflective, literary or visual, personal or analytical. All should be grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition and animated by the voices of women who sit, like Mary of Bethany, at the feet of Christ—bringing that gaze into the world.
We invite you to continue to help us build something unique, a journal that serves as a testament that Catholic women do not occupy the margins of intellectual life. They press faithfully and imaginatively into its most daring and necessary questions.
At His feet…in her voice.
*Refer to the full submission guidelines prior to submission.
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Issue II.II
Fulfilled: The End of Progress
Unsolicited Submissions Due: June 18, 2027The Better Part, an interdisciplinary journal of Catholic women’s thought, once again invites bold, original work for Issue II.II: Fulfilled: The End of Progress.
“We have a saying: ‘Move fast and break things.’ The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.”
—Mark Zuckerberg, letter to investors, Facebook IPO filing, February 1, 2012
The motto began as advice for software engineers, but it became the unofficial creed of Progress for an entire generation of technological advancement. The motto was eventually replaced with “Move fast with stable infrastructure,” but the world had already adopted the original words as Gospel truth. Societies learned to move fast and break things.
Progress promised human fulfillment measured by capacity, self-actualization, and personal agency. In this sense, humans have never flourished more. We live longer, travel farther, possess vast amounts of knowledge, and wield technological power like never before. We have reached the heights of Progress.
We have moved fast, and we have broken things.
But where have we gone? And to what end?
The Catholic intellectual tradition offers another paradigm: Flourishing can only occur in light of fulfillment of one’s nature—when one’s nature reaches the end (telos) for which it was made. The human person flourishes in virtue, in friendship, in truth, and ultimately in God. Progress without telos is no progress at all; it is motion.
In this issue, we ask: What does it mean for a human being, and for a woman in particular, to flourish? Do the limits of human existence have something to teach the evangelists of Progress? What might Progress look like in a world that embraces authentic human nature?
We invite Catholic women of all vocations and backgrounds to explore the theme of “Fulfilled” across disciplines and experiences. We especially welcome submissions that explore the following:What the Body Knows: the wisdom of the human body in fever, healing, and fertility, a nature ordered to its end
What Remains: virtue as perfection of the person, against a culture that measures growth by capacity rather than character
No Man Is an Island: friendship, community, and the Common Good, against a solitary existence for both individuals and families
The Useless Goods: leisure, festivity, play—goods that serve no purpose beyond themselves
The Good Life: human morality, mortality, and the art of suffering well
Creative Work: art, music, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that tell the tales of the full human life or mourn its counterfeits
The previous lists are suggestions. We welcome all submissions that fit the theme of “Fulfilled.” Submissions may be academic or reflective, literary or visual, personal or analytical. All should be grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition and animated by the voices of women who sit, like Mary of Bethany, at the feet of Christ—bringing that gaze into the world.
We invite you to continue to help us build something unique, a journal that serves as a testament that Catholic women do not occupy the margins of intellectual life. They press faithfully and imaginatively into its most daring and necessary questions.
Let us remind Progress of its end.
At His feet…in her voice.
*Refer to the full submission guidelines prior to submission.
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Books we’ve marked; Music we return to.
A quiet corner of The Better Part, where we share the books, melodies, and meditations that shape our days. From the well-worn classics of Catholic tradition to contemporary novels, from sacred choral works to vintage vinyl, The Reading Room gathers art that lingers.This is a space to pause–a space to abandon the noise and sit with what nourishes the interior life and stirs quiet thought. It is a space for resonance–for the eyes, the ears, and the mind.
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Short pieces. Long echoes.
A short-form, reflective space within The Better Part.
A home for pieces too brief, too personal, or too unresolved for a full essay—but too meaningful to ignore.Share a sentence that changed you.
A line from your journal.
A question you’ve been carrying.
Wisdom from your grandmother, a teacher, or a stranger.
A quote marked in the margin.
A single-word meditation.Because, in life, the margins matter.
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For ideas that wander…
The Labyrinth is a space for thought that meanders, turns, and hesitates–a space where resolutions unfold in time.
It honors the journey, the spiritual search, the detour. It welcomes tension and gives uncertainty room to breathe.Here, we examine what it means to walk the path well…even when we can’t see beyond the next bend.
We invite:
Essays that resist conclusions
Meditations that circle back
Reflections shaped by paradox
Symbolic or image-rich writing that gestures rather than declares
Because the life of the intellectual Catholic woman is not linear–it is layered, recursive, and unexpected. Though the path may twist, walk it well.
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Where beauty, data, and mystery meet.
Ordered Wonder is a space devoted to the intersection of science, structure, and awe. Here we invite Catholic women working in science, medicine, mathematics, or nature-based disciplines to reflect on how their work–and the natural world–reveals something of the Creator.
The universe is not merely observed–it is received. A heartbeat. A spiral galaxy. A delicate ecosystem. A mathematical proof. These are not mere phenomena to study and subdue; rather, they are traces of the Eternal Law made visible.
We invite:Personal essays from the field or lab
Philosophical reflections on scientific truths and limits
Creative nonfiction with scientific/natural imagery
Letters or vignettes: short reflections, journal style entries
Profiles or interviews with Catholic women scientists
Tone:
Reflective and open to mystery
Blending the beautiful and the technical
Accessible to readers across disciplines
The Heavens declare the Glory of God.
And so does the microscope. -
Contribute to the conversation.
“We affirm the truth that intellectual Catholic women of all walks of professional and vocational life advance the life of the Church and effect positive change in the modern culture.”
-The Better Part Mission Statement
The contributors and editors of The Better Part were never meant to speak alone.
In this space, we publish responses, questions, and reflections from our readers. Whether prompted by an essay, poem, image, or column, these letters embody the heart of The Better Part.
If you’ve been moved, challenged, provoked, or changed by something in The Better Part, we invite you to add your voice to the journal.
At His feet…in her voice.
Please include your name, city/state, and any relevant vocation, title, or information. Letters may be lightly edited for clarity or length.
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Unfinished thoughts.
Unfinished art.
Unfinished plans.This is the space where the work isn’t complete—and that’s the point.
Unfinished invites Catholic women to share what is in-process, imperfect, or abandoned.
It’s for poems that stopped mid-line, canvases that were painted over, stories that were set aside.
Because letting others see your process and imperfection is an act of courage. And sometimes the unfinished is more alive than the finished. -
Room to Speak is where Catholic women publish for the first time — and are heard. This is a column for the unpublished: women whose voices have lived in journals, drafts, conversations, or quiet corners — until now.
We believe every woman deserves room— space to ask, reflect, and say something true.
If you've never published before, this room is for you.
Pull up a chair.
Put your thoughts on the page.
There’s room for your voice here. -
Where Catholicism collides with modernity…and truth prevails.
This is the edge of the map—where Catholicism meets AI, gender theory, capitalism, politics, fiction, grief, ambition, and control.Here, modernity claims sovereignty, but truth does not concede.
Truth does not bend to modernity. It exposes fractures—to judge, to redeem, and when necessary, to resist.
The Borderlands is where we test that claim in real time.
We publish writing that brings Catholic thought into direct contact with modern ideology—its assumptions, ideologies, technologies, and contradictions.
We seek:Essays that hold the line where the world wants it blurred
Cultural criticism rooted in metaphysics
Reflections on modern life through the lens of Catholic intellectual tradition
Thought pieces that challenge, not flatter, the spirit of the age
Because modernity does not dictate reality. Truth does.
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Where human hands elevate the world.
All Things Visible is a recurring visual column exploring how form, design, and beauty shape the way we live, pray, dress, and dwell. From sacred architecture to domestic spaces, from vestments to everyday garments, from liturgical vessels to inherited heirlooms–this column honors the visible world not as decoration, but as a vessel of meaning.
The act of shaping the physical world–through art, architecture, clothing, ritual, and craftsmanship–is a participation in the divine act of creation. When we order beauty with reverence, we don’t just reflect truth, we help reveal it…with the work of our hands.
This column is where Catholic women–artists, architects, designers, historians, homemakers, curators, and contemplatives–consider how matter becomes meaningful, and how beauty is both a gift and a responsibility
We invite:photo essays
reflections on lived spaces
profiles of Catholic Architects or Designers
essays on style, identity, and memory through clothing
historical reflections
reflections on the art of human creation
sketches documenting the creative process
Because the way we build, wear, and adorn the world reveals what we believe. And what we shape, shapes us.
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Things we shouldn’t say out loud.
This is a minimalist column for what’s missing–the things Catholic women aren’t supposed to say. Not because they’re untrue; but because they are impolite, unpretty, and inconvenient.
Breaking Silence is where the intellectual Catholic woman resides, the space where she unflinchingly challenges the status quo–cleanly, sharply, and without apology.
What this is:Minimalist
Controlled fire
Signed or unsigned
No self-explaining
Courage in a clean line
Because the intellectual Catholic woman doesn’t fear the unpretty–she fears the cost of silence.
submit your work
Be sure to read all Submission Guidelines prior to submission.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out!
editor@thebetterpartjournal.com