“Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings” (Isaias 58:1 [DRB]). A recent statement from the Parish Council of Holy Trinity Church in the District of Columbia benightedly and truculently exclaims that their church “will not deny the Eucharist to persons presenting themselves to receive it.” I…
Charles Peguy (1873-1914): “It will never be known what acts of cowardice have been committed for fear of not looking sufficiently progressive.” Elsewhere, I recently published a piece pleading for the universal reinstatement of the Traditional Latin Mass. This plea flies in the face of fears that the usus antiquior will be restricted, or…
“But my people would not listen to me . . . . So I let them go their stubborn ways and do whatever they wished” (Psalm 81:11-12; cf. Romans 1:24-25). One version of a famous fable is this: A scorpion asked a frog for transportation across a river. The frog, thinking that the scorpion…
Proverbs tells us: “What a joy it is to find just the right word for the right occasion” (15:23). So it is with the word imposturous, which ideally captures the essence of the deceit which characterizes what currently masquerades as social ethics. If an impostor is someone who pretends to be someone else to deceive…
“Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” -The Evil Queen in Snow White “Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way” -Proverbs 3:6 Precis: The right thing to do is to conform our wishes to God’s will. Here, though, we will…
“With God and Jesus Christ excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, . . . human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation.” – Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas [1925]: #18 Precis: Secular values tell us to exalt ourselves…
Pope Pius XI: “No genuine cure can be furnished for this lamentable ruin of souls, which, so long as it continues, will frustrate all efforts to regenerate society, unless men return openly and sincerely to the teaching of the Gospel” (Quadragesimo Anno [1931: #136]). “For there is no permanent city for us here on earth;…
“The priests are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not” (Ezekiel 44:23 GNB). “But now you priests have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has led many to do wrong” (Malachi 2:8 GNB). Precis: If it’s true that we act as we think, reinforcing our…
“Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies?” —St. Augustine, The City of God Precis: Currentism is any political ideology which insists that it is rapidly progressing toward some vision of a human paradise. It recognizes only “now,” repudiating the lessons of yesterday and the Divine Judgment of tomorrow. Because Currentist leaders…
“Do not be led astray by diverse and strange teachings” (Hebrews 13:9 RSV). ———- Precis: Jesus–“Follow me” (Mt 10:38//Mk 8:34//Lk 9:23//Jn 21:19, 22). Saint Paul–“Be ye followers of me, as I am also of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1, DRB). Joe Biden: “Follow the science, man!” When Jesus returns, will there be no religious faith but,…
Background: A few years ago, a friend graciously asked me for permission to nominate me for a one-year visiting professorship at a Catholic College which was beginning a study of bias (as the focus for that professor’s teaching and research). I thanked my colleague but declined the nomination. I then wrote to the President of…
