Dear Father N., Thank you for coming across town from your parish to ours to celebrate Mass for us as often as you do. As one of the few parish members (if not the only one) who doesn’t speak Japanese …
Category: Moral Teaching
What Keeps Some Catholics from Facing the Modern Church’s Ugliness?
“The mind will protect itself from having to face something intolerable.” As I read a recent article by Rod Dreher, this line in it resonated with me. Perhaps it accessed that part of the attic where my brain stores my …
The Death of the Lebanon Cedar
The prophet Ezekiel gives us the “allegory of the cedar,” which teaches us personal and political lessons. In that prophecy, Egypt is compared to a cedar tree grown tall and beautiful. As it grew, however, it became arrogant — “its …
The LGBT Conspiracy and Eros, the Demon of Love
It’s become impossible to keep up with the activities of the relentless juggernaut known as the “LGBT community.” Seemingly every day, we see a new story more outrageous and shocking than the last. University professors and children’s book publishers are …
Fr. Cusick, Women’s Modesty, and Confronting the Mob
Thus reads the tweet heard ’round the world, posted by respected priest and veteran Fr. Kevin M. Cusick: “Ladies, a priest I know was forced on Sunday to ask a woman at Mass to cover her shoulders. Please help the …
The Hemlock Self-Prescribed
Recently, I was presented with a sincere argument asserting that the morality of the real-life Mark Hamill is unassailable due to the fact that he once portrayed the righteous Luke Skywalker. I mention this only to illustrate the point that …
If You Had All the Time in the World, How Would You Attack the Church?
The recent Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, accusing Pope Francis of heresy, precipitated a large number of commentaries. A common response was to cite ecclesiastical law for the proposition that “no one judges the pope” and …
Guilty or Not Guilty? Withhold Judgment in Abuse Cases
We are in the midst of the Easter season: He is Risen, alleluia, alleluia! We read in the book of the Apocalypse that Jesus Christ is “the first and the last” (22:13). Indeed, He is first in the eternal sense, …
Cardinal Cupich’s Selective Justice?
From an April 6 letter, written by Cardinal Blase Cupich, posted at the Archdiocese of Chicago’s website: Dear Parishioners of San José Luis Sánchez del Río, Last August, I informed you of the accusation against your pastor, Fr. Gary Graf, …
The Trial of Dr. Halliday Sutherland
At Christmas in 2013, I traveled from my home in Sydney, Australia to visit my mother in Britain. One morning, I was up early and decided to sort through a tea chest containing my belongings in the cellar below the …