God is a unity … of three. True God … and true man. We say these statements so often, it’s hard sometimes to realize just how outrageous, how logically self-contradictory, they seem to be on their surface. The wisdom of the wise is foolishness. The greatest one is the one who serves. Blessed are those … Read more
I am shamelessly stealing this from the Deacon’s Bench, because it was too beautiful not to share. It’s a brief look at this year’s ordination of priests in Milwaukee, but it could just as easily apply to all our priests everywhere. It’ll make you want to run out and shake the hand of every one … Read more
My wife Alice and I were married on an August morning in 1964 in a Presbyterian church just south of Richmond, Virginia. As our wedding reception drew to a close in the midday summer heat and we prepared to drive off to begin our married life in Austin, Texas, Alice’s mother took me aside and … Read more
Hard to believe, but a Michigan woman posted an ad on her church bulletin board for a Christian roommate and was then cited by the state for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against people of other faiths. The 31-year-old woman is not a landlord or a management company, but a homeowner looking for … Read more
If you’re tired of hearing Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh described by media pundits as a “Christian terrorist,” Jeremy Lott has you covered. McVeigh has become part of the PC balancing act that analysts are expected to perform every time they are confronted with evidence of Islamist terrorism. Witness the flap over National Public Radio … Read more
Last evening I had the pleasure of taking three seminarians from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary out to dinner in Gettysburg. As I drove up Highway 15 to Emmitsburg, MD, I noticed the leaves on the trees were more brilliant with fall colors than they are down here in the suburbs of Washington, DC. And, … Read more
It is primarily in John’s Gospel that we get information about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Nicodemus is described as a “ruler of the Jews,” a thoughtful Pharisee who came to Jesus by night and was struggling to understand how a mature adult like himself could be “born again.” Many of us have the same … Read more
A tip-of-the-hat to The Anchoress, who linked to this piece in which various experts with Divinity-School letters appended to their names convey their opinions about whether demons exist. The expert consensus is that they don’t. (No reasons for thinking this are given, naturally, because reason is irrelevant to expert consensus.) In reading some of these … Read more
At a dads’ get-together a few days ago, one of the guys said that he was planning on having his kids pay for college themselves because he wanted them to stay Catholic. At this rather-bizarre-on-the-face-of-it statement, many of the guys had questions, and this fellow proceeded to say that from his experience, kids who had … Read more
All the decorations are up, folks are frantically shopping and preparing, and the anticipation is almost killing me as I await the brightest, best moment of the whole liturgical year: Halloween, of course. As far back as I can remember, this feast far outclassed Christmas on my personal calendar. No matter that Santa brought piles … Read more
With Pope Benedict XVI’s Anglicanorum Coetibus clearing away the obstacles for Anglicans to reunite with Rome, some Episcopal parishes are doing that very thing. This past Sunday, Baltimore’s Mount Calvary Episcopal Church voted to join the Catholic Church, making it the first congregation in Maryland to do so. The small Anglo Catholic parish at Madison … Read more
CNN ran a piece yesterday about research out of the University of Wisconsin showing that meditation permanently changes the brain by strengthening the circuits related to concentration and empathy. Richard Davidson, a psychologist at the university, says that strengthening neural systems is no different than training muscles of the body. “The original investigations by people … Read more
Yesterday, the pope released a statement on immigration for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, coming up in January 2011. Titled “One Human Family,” Benedict addresses the dignity of all immigrants while acknowledging nations’ rights to regulate their flow: “The World Day of Migrants and Refugees offers the whole Church an opportunity to reflect … Read more
Sometime back, I wrote a little piece about John Lennon’s hymn to original sin (aka “Imagine”), expressing my bafflement at the fact that people (including Catholics who ought to know better) regard this as a hope-filled anthem of the Coming Great Rosy Dawn and not as what it is: Music to Accompany the Machine Gunning … Read more
Reports have been circulating the last few days that Jody Bottum is no longer the editor of First Things. The changes on the masthead — listing an “interim editor” — corroborate the truth of those reports. First Things has yet to issue any kind of official comment on the change — until then, it would … Read more
With increasing regularity, I find myself wondering if the environment and its appropriate stewardship has become (fairly or not) the ultimate “Rev. 3:16” issue facing us today – Absolutely No Middle Ground Allowed. Now, I have never been particularly forceful (or definitive) in my opinions on most non-cinematic topics – “Gray, as far as the eye … Read more
I participated in a 30-minute media conference call regarding the proposal being put forward by the CCHD to reform their grant making apparatus. Leading the call were Bishop Roger Morin, chair of the USCCB subcommittee on CCHD; John Carr, head of Justice, Peace, and Human Development at the USCCB; and Ralph McCloud, head of the … Read more
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), despite coming under frequent attacks by pro-lifers, remains one of the most respected and well-funded organizations in the country. Add the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to the equation, and you’ve got a billion-dollar industry in human fertility. One would expect that the aims and agenda of such … Read more
Well, this is charming: The ad is the brainchild of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and Matthew Archbold at the National Catholic Register calls it “the most anti-Catholic political ad you’ll ever see.” Could be… but frankly I find it so confusing as a piece of advertising that I’m not sure it even rises to that … Read more
Trick-or-treaters might be coming around with UNICEF donation boxes. Don’t give ‘em a dime — UNICEF pushes for abortion and sterilization as part of its efforts to improve the lives of women and children. Beyond the immediate irony of that idea, it’s not even good policy. According to CatholicCulture.org (emphasis mine): Pro-family UN watchers are … Read more