The world is full of talented failures — people who either didn’t live up to their abilities, or who did, but in a way that diminished their humanity and their character. God made us to be better than that. And our nation and our Church need His people to be better than that. Scripture tells … Read more
In the Breviary (Monday, Week Three, Morning Prayers), we find five intercessions. The first reads: “Man was created to glorify God through all his [man’s] deeds.” This intercession is mindful of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s principle: “Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God and thereby to save his soul.” God, be it noted, … Read more
Exactly 70 years ago, in 1940, Rev. John Courtney Murray gave a series of three college talks. For his theme, he chose the “concept of a Christian culture.” After his death, his Jesuit brothers fused the talks into a single essay called “The Construction of a Christian Culture.” It’s a modest word change. But that … Read more
This year’s election season promises ever greater challenges to the fake Catholic political groups. Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good seem to be running out of ideas for how to convince Catholics to vote for the same Democratic candidates who had promised in 2008 to support Catholic teachings on life issues, … Read more
Recently my daughter Jessica and I spent some time traveling in Sweden, in the upcountry north of Uppsala. We don’t care for cities, and my daughter, no surprise here, is something of a traditionalist, so we visited old villages, well-preserved “gamlasgardar” or collocations of log cabins, barns, threshing floors, and so forth, and village churches. … Read more
Catching up is hard to do. It reduces me to elliptical reviews of new CDs, the merit of which you must accept from a few brushstrokes of praise from me, as space — even in this medium — does not allow for more. Therefore, this is a matter of trust and taste. By the latter, … Read more
A certain gentleman I know told me that his young son is attending a private Catholic school that is run independently of the diocesan or religious order systems. He and his wife were evidently happy with the school: “It is a much more loving place, no Baltimore Catechism sort of thing.” Aside from the fact that … Read more
John Paul II was a shaker of world events. He regraded the political landscape of the 20th century and was counted among the few who were responsible for the relatively peaceful demise of the Evil Empire. Pundits were busy assessing his impact in this realm and wondering about his broader political legacy. They were having … Read more
“Submit yourselves one to another, as in the Lord,” says St. Paul, and then he follows his command with a list of applications, involving relationships among husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, citizens and their magistrates, and all Christians and their elders in the Faith. The Christian life, as the saints and … Read more
At an MRI recently, the receptionist told me that it would last two hours. It seemed a bit long. Two young African-American technicians ran the eerie instrument, chatting while settling me in. They put a set of headphones on me and kindly tuned to a rap radio station. After about two minutes, I asked them … Read more
The latest revelations that yet another Connecticut Catholic priest has stolen yet another million dollars from his own parishioners to support a flamboyant gay lifestyle in New York City are especially disappointing to those of us who thought Connecticut’s religious leaders had learned a lesson the first time this happened in 2009. Many of us … Read more
I was recently in “old Europe” for a conference on Islam and to promote my new book, The Closing of the Muslim Mind (alas, not a work about music). However, what’s the point of being in old Europe without music? The very stones cry out for it. Therefore, I snuck in an opera in Vienna, … Read more
After Easter, the passage from John 21 about the catch of 153 large fish in the Sea of Galilee comes up a couple of times. The disciples go night fishing. After a fruitless night, the Lord, from the shore, asks: “Have you caught anything?” “Nothing.” “Cast your nets on the right side of the boat.” … Read more
You cannot act for twenty-four hours without deciding either to hold people responsible or not to hold them responsible. Theology is a product far more practical than chemistry. Some Determinists fancy that Christianity invented a dogma like free will for fun — a mere contradiction. This is absurd. You have the contradiction wherever you are. … Read more
Spring quickens one’s sense of delight and lifts one’s spirits as the world awakens. Many puzzle over how the world began; I am still in wonder at how spring happens. With a child’s appetite for repetition, I am always ready to say: Do it again! This is my inspiration for focusing mostly on delightful music … Read more
I collect illuminating tidbits from Modernity and offer them to discriminating readers from time to time. Herewith are the most recent for your delectation. Â A Parade magazine poll on spirituality reported that “69% of Americans believe in God,” and that “77% pray outside of religious services.” While the article invites us to find encouragement … Read more
Let us set aside, for the sake of this essay, various questions concerning the recent health-care bill passed by Congress. We will concede the highly dubious proposition that it will hold down costs; that it will not add hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt; that it will not lead to the queues … Read more
The Easter Antiphon, Regina Coeli, states that Christ “has arisen as He said.” This phrase is remarkable. It is one thing, however astounding, to maintain that Christ arose from the dead. But it is another thing to add that Christ arose just as He said that He would. Lazarus, for instance, did not know that … Read more
Recently, one of our local high schools celebrated a state championship in track and field. Not remarkable, unless you consider that it was the school’s 16th championship in a row. On the same day, the same high school’s swimmers swept to victory in the state finals. It was their 21st straight championship. This school is … Read more
Many people these days are utopians of some variety. We think that we can get rid of the doom that stands over us by our own efforts. We can reorganize the polity, the family, education, or the economy so that things will be fine. We cannot accept that the issue has to do with ourselves, … Read more
