Few have written more wisely on the relation of art and culture than Jacques Maritain. In Art and Scholasticism, written just after the end of the World War I, Maritain traced the deterioration in modern art to the artist’s turn toward ideology. When the artist becomes preoccupied with communicating ideas, the beauty of what he … Read more
…how would the Nativity story have unfolded? A sweet little video — and given the Tweets and status updates I get from friends in the delivery room, probably pretty accurate. Hat tip to the Deacon’s Bench, which has just relocated to Patheos! Be sure to check out Deacon Greg at his new digs. [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA 635×355] … Read more
After the passage of the new health care legislation, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Catholic, filed suit, questioning the constitutionality of the federal government requiring its citizens to buy health insurance. Yesterday, U. S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson (no relation) ruled that: “The mandate on individuals in President Barack Obama’s health-care legislation goes … Read more
It appears the jury is still out as to whether the Church has taken — or will take — a stand on genetically modified (GM) crops. At first it seemed the Vatican was for it. According to The Independent, a leaked document from a group of 40 scientists who are linked to the Pontifical Academy … Read more
Christmas is closely associated with coziness, and reasonably so. It happens at the time of year (in the northern hemisphere) when we are all snugged up like badgers while it snows, blows, and rains outside. What with all the lights, hot chocolate, cheery fires, and beautiful music of the time (not to mention the warm … Read more
As the legend goes — and it is only a legend — after Christ’s crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea carried the Holy Grail from Jerusalem to ancient Britannia, specifically, to the area near modern day Glastonbury. There, he founded an abbey and planted a thorn tree, one offshoot of which survives to this day. While in … Read more
The Judgment of the Nations was a work published in 1942 by the Catholic historian Christopher Dawson, but it started to get significant attention only in the early months of 1943. “The old landmarks of good and evil and truth and falsehood have been swept away and civilization is driving before the storm of destruction … Read more
There’s not a whole lot to say about this Wall Street Journal article on the rise of “global surrogacy” — a new industry that uses “an international network of surrogate mothers and egg and sperm donors . . . to produce children on the cheap and outside the reach of restrictive laws.” Or, rather, there … Read more
The social aspect of religion, rather than theology or spirituality per se, is what makes religious people happy. That is, if you believe the news stories about the recent research reported in the American Sociological Review. However, if you look more closely at the study, led by Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at … Read more
Imagine yourself sitting at home watching your favorite evening program on television. Suddenly the screen goes blank. An unseen announcer says: “We interrupt this program for a special announcement. We take you to the White House in Washington.” In a moment you are watching the president. Sitting in the Oval Office, he announces an international … Read more
The title, Zombie Jesus, is misleading, even if deliberately provocative: Jesus is never portrayed as a zombie in this comic. Is it Biblical? Maybe. Well, loosely. Okay, hanging by a thread, fine. Matthew 27: 51b-54 does describe some of the dead being raised from their tombs and appearing to the people in Jerusalem, causing the … Read more
Patrick and Nora lie buried in the Catholic cemetery in Lake City, Minnesota in the shadow of an imposing pillar bearing the legend McInerny. Their individual stones read “Our Father” and “Our Mother.” My great-great grandparents. We stopped there a few weeks ago on our way to Minneapolis and Connie tolerated my bout of Celtic … Read more
Each week of Advent I’m highlighting some gift ideas that IC readers might be interested in giving or getting. Here’s this week’s list: Last week I mentioned the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming and their wonderful coffee, but failed to highlight their popular Jingle Bell Java. The Anchoress admits she not only buys it for Christmas … Read more
This year, many people will be celebrating Christmas alone.Whether single, married, or divorced — or simply far away from family and friends — facing the holidays alone can be a daunting experience. And no wonder: Everywhere we look there are reminders that the season is for being together with loved ones. An inevitable onslaught of … Read more
Good morning! Just a quick round-up today; feel free to add your own links in the comments: A Wisconsin shrine has been approved as the first Marian apparition worthy of belief in the United States. Carl Olson parses the reports about a recent study claiming that “religion makes you happy because of its social rather … Read more
“Your son,” a woman once told me after Mass, “is a bully.” “Really?” I asked, surprised by this characterization of my normally well-behaved (at least in church) sons. “Which one?” She told me that she had observed my three oldest boys, all altar servers, putting on their cassocks in the sacristy before Mass. The youngest … Read more
Some clichés, like some books, seem wise when we are young. Most of the D. H. Lawrence I admired when I was twenty sounds pretty silly to me now. I remember embracing the cliché about the inferiority of institutional religion as opposed to personal “religiousness.” In those days, I bought the assumption that institutions necessarily … Read more
The folks over at the Population Research Institute have done it again. Below is the fourth installment in their “Pop 101” series, this time answering the claim that too many people lead to poverty. It’s a nice companion video to the one Joseph posted on Monday (be sure to check it out here if you … Read more
In a comment to my Tuesday morning post about Michelle Rhee and school reform, Deacon Ed made the point: [T]he only real solution to D.C.’s education woes (the same as it is everywhere else) is a voucher system where parents — who have the best interest of their children at heart — get to choose … Read more
What can I say? I can’t stop watching this video. Why? It contains everything I miss in the daily grind of life here in Washington, DC. On November 13th in some nameless food court at some nameless mall somewhere in America, people started to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus” of G. F. Handel.