The excerpt below is from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love,” which was recently made into a film starring Julia Roberts. I haven’t read the book, but someone showed me this passage, and I must say I was strongly impressed by it. I’m sure there are many “religious despisers of beauty,” as I have called them, … 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
I’ve been enjoying the Globe and Mail‘s interactive presentation of the latest World Values Survey (WVS). If you’re unfamiliar with the organization, the WVS is comprised of an international network of social scientists who carry out surveys in 97 countries, offering representative opinion from close to 90 percent of the Earth’s population. The questions are … Read more
Pope Benedict was in Palermo, Sicily, yesterday, encouraging the locals to resist the evils of the Mafia: “The temptation toward discouragement, to resignation, comes to those who are weak in faith, to those who confuse evil with good, to those who think that, faced with often profound evil, there is nothing to do,” Benedict told … Read more
Over the course of the seven years I’ve been writing on Catholic topics, I made no attempt to hide that I was flirting with, then later became, a “traditionalist” Catholic. The process was, for me, a surprising one, since despite my liturgically conservative tastes, my first few exposures to the Gregorian liturgy left me cold. … Read more
When you see a homeless man with a sign saying, “Hungry, need a meal,” what is the biblical thing to do? Here are possible answers: Be generous: Give him a quarter, a dollar, or a five-dollar bill. Be tough: Go on by, being careful not to make eye contact. Select some other option. Lots of … Read more
It has (too) recently come to my attention that the Criterion Collection’s release of John Ford’s brilliant Stagecoach is now available through the Netflix Watch Instantly feature. As one of the most influential Westerns of all time — as well as a prominent entry on the list of “All-Time Greatest Film Entrances” — it’s one of … Read more
“Look at me!” I announced to my bleary-eyed husband when he emerged from the bedroom one morning soon after our second child was born. Carefully, I shifted tiny Eamon in the crook of one arm as I scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and poured juice with my free hand. “I can nurse the baby and cook … Read more
You’ve got to love the latest PR move by the Corn Refiner’s Association (CRA). It petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow it to use the term “corn sugar” instead of “high fructose corn syrup.” All in the name of “consumer clarity,” of course. <cough> “Consumers need to know what is in … Read more
I haven’t picked up a Stephen King novel since I was a kid, but I enjoyed reading the horror master’s opinion of contemporary vampire fiction. “Here’s what vampires shouldn’t be: pallid detectives who drink Bloody Marys and work only at night; lovelorn southern gentlemen; anorexic teenage girls; boy-toys with big dewy eyes,” writes Stephen King … Read more
Time for some Friday morning links to get the day started: Scientists discover an effective alternative to embryonic stem cells that doesn’t require destroying embryos. What was that about necessity and invention…? Other exciting science news: “Roller-coaster rides can relieve symptoms of asthma, beards are a health hazard and randomly promoting workers creates more efficient … Read more
I go outside for InsideCatholic occasionally, and most recently journeyed across the pond to assay the musical life in London, always a pleasure in what remains, in my experience, the greatest city for music in the world. What other metropolis can boast several superb symphony orchestras and opera houses, to say nothing of the plentitude … Read more
As I’ve been saying, the Catholic tea kettle is boiling and one of the first places it’s bound to boil over is the home of the original Tea Party, Boston. Joe Sacerdo at the blog devoted to Rev, J. Bryan Hehir is calling for the protest in response to — guess what! — a SOCIAL … Read more
Over at National Review’s Corner blog, Fred Schwartz pointed out the most alarming example of “Federal Government/Copy Editor” collusion yet: Federal copy editors are demanding the city change its 250,900 street signs — such as these for Perry Avenue in The Bronx — from the all-caps style used for more than a century to ones that capitalize only … Read more
This week I will take up the cudgels in defense of G. K. Chesterton, after reading Austin Bramwell’s acerbic article that dismissed my beloved bard as philosophically unserious and rhetorically annoying. I’m probably not the man to take up the task, since I’m way too attached. Twenty years ago, I teased Robert Spencer, who wages … Read more
I couldn’t resist borrowing a meme from Matthew Archbold at Creative Minority Report: Songs that make men cry. Apparently, the UK Sun is reporting that the song most likely to make a grown man cry is… “Everybody Hurts” by REM. Archbold has some, er, choice words upon hearing that revelation: “Men are officially complete wusses.” … Read more
Over at Catholic.org, my friend Deacon Keith Fournier makes the argument that Catholics need to “take back” the phrase “social justice” in its true meaning. His argument is a continuation of an exchange we shared at the Catholic Leadership Conference in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. Deacon Fournier was in the midst of making the … Read more
On Tuesday, I posted a recent report about road fatalities due to texting and talking on cell phones while driving. Yesterday, there was a short piece in the Cleveland Leader about some research conducted by the Highway Loss Data Institute that shows crash rates may actually increase when bans against texting are put in place … Read more
Finding the correct balance between secrecy and openness in the governance of any large institution is something like finding the right balance of ingredients in your favorite mixed drink: In the end, taste has a lot to do with it. Yet, as Gabriel Schoenfeld points out in his informative new book Necessary Secrets: National Security, … Read more
Please forgive me if this post seems to drop out of nowhere; I’m stuck at home for a few days with, ironically, walking pneumonia. So there isn’t much to do except stroll around You Tube, like young Susanka. Here is a piece of music that will break your heart: the final Trio from Richard Strauss’s … Read more