Readers may remember that I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Catcher in the Rye when I read it in high school. But J. D. Salinger’s passing last week brought the book to mind for Father Dwight Longenecker, who says that its message may be even more important for adults than for teens: Holden’s problem is that he can’t learn how … Read more
Brian and I teach RCIA, and love it. Our parish is a historic downtown church — the oldest basilica in the country, actually — and most parishioners travel some distance to attend. In an attempt to get to know the candidates and catechumens better, we’ve been getting together with each of them over lunch or … Read more
Two new reports have been published today on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Rob Gaspar at Bellarmine Veritas Ministry has dug more deeply into the CCHD relationship to the Center for Community Change (CCC). In “Sleeping with the Enemy,” Michael Hichborn at the American Life League has also uncovered more disturbing facts about … Read more
Here’s part four of a 10-part comedy-mystery serial from 1960. As always, these pages come from Catholic University’s online archive of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. C’mon, where else are you going to see a litter of baby skunks this week?
It’s called Steadishots.org: A Tribute and Study of Steadicam Operators and Their Work, which pretty much says it all. OK, maybe I should clarify a bit: it could easily become my favorite website, with a little work. Right now, the list of shots is much too short for someone as obsessed with the Steadicam and its … Read more
I have sad news to report: The great Catholic philosopher and writer Ralph McInerny passed away this morning. He was just shy of his 81st birthday. While Ralph may be best remembered in general circles as the author of the popular Father Dowling mystery series, he has a special significance to the staff and friends … Read more
Catholic News Service reports that Pope Benedict has asked marriage tribunals not to grant annulments too easily. “We run the risk of falling into an anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today’s cultural situation, considers it almost impossible to marry,” the pope said in a speech Jan. 29 to members of the Tribunal of … Read more
This is absolutely fantastic: BBC journalist and humorist Charlie Brooker pulls back the curtain on television journalism, revealing the pattern all network reporters follow in their own recorded segments. Have a look and you’ll never watch a news broadcast the same way again. (There is a small bit of profanity.)
Good morning! A few links to start your day: Well that didn’t take long: With CBS having already accepted Tim Tebow’s pro-life ad to run during the Super Bowl, a gay dating Web site has also submitted an ad for consideration. But as all the spots are already filled for next Sunday, it largely looks … Read more
Yesterday was the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose name I took on the day I was received into the Catholic Church almost 26 years ago. It’s hard for me to speak of the Angelic Doctor without gushing — I feel as if I know him personally, I have spent so many hours … Read more
This FOX News story on the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s strident objections to the upcoming USPS stamp commemorating Mother Teresa — (courtesy of Mere Comments) — is fascinating to me. An atheist organization is blasting the U.S. Postal Service for its plan to honor Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp, saying it violates postal regulations … Read more
A very different set of photos from the ones I posted this morning: The images accompanying this New York Times article about the children of Haiti will break your heart. From the story: Not long after 14-year-old Daphne Joseph escaped her collapsed house on the day of the earthquake, she boarded a crowded jitney with … Read more
This has not been a good week for the University of Chicago. One of its prize manuscripts — the Archaic Mark, a magnificent copy of Mark’s Gospel thought to have been from the 14th century — was just proven a forgery. The ongoing debate as to the codex’s authenticity re-ignited in 2006 with its … Read more
Radley Balko links to an incredible Flickr set of images where modern-day scenes are overlapped with older photographs to give a seamless impression of different moments in time. Some have a great ghostly quality: While others give a startling look at just how quickly landscapes change, as in this shot of Dubai: … Read more
This has not been a good week for the University of Chicago. One of its prize manuscripts — the Archaic Mark, a magnificent copy of Mark’s Gospel thought to have been from the 14th century — was just proven a forgery. The ongoing debate as to the codex’s authenticity re-ignited in 2006 with its … Read more
…the largest and most important and best parts of my youth I spent in Traunstein, which very much reflects the influence of Salzburg. You might say that there Mozart thoroughly penetrated our souls, and his music still touches me very deeply, because it is so luminous and yet at the same time so deep. His … Read more
Most of the Christians I know chose to ignore Pat Robertson’s recent comments about Haiti’s ‘pact with the devil’ causing the earthquake. But who would have thought Robertson’s biggest defender would be British atheist Richard Dawkins? In fact, Roberston’s comments gave Dawkins yet another reason to share his contempt for Christians… this time, in the … Read more
In a piece that could easily have lampooned several putatively educational cable stations, the fine humorists at The Onion are reporting this morning that the “Science Channel Refuses to Dumb Down Science Any Further.” “Look, we’ve tried, we really have, but it’s simply not possible to set the bar any lower,” said a visibly … Read more
Hoo boy. This story is just tailor-made for breathless secular reporting: Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the “postulator” for Pope John Paul II’s cause for sainthood, has published a book titled Why He’s a Saint that claims, among other things, that the former pope practiced self-flagellation: In the book, Oder wrote that John Paul frequently denied himself … Read more
This story on Newsday’s efforts to attract subscribers to its newly-pay-walled website a truly shocking fact: That astoundingly low figure was revealed in a newsroom-wide meeting last week by publisher Terry Jimenez when a reporter asked how many people had signed up for the site. Mr. Jimenez didn’t know the number off the top of … Read more