I’ve spent most of the afternoon on social media, looking over reports about the protest that turned into a break-in at the US Capitol. Government officials had to be evacuated. One young woman was shot in the neck, and appeared …
A Gorgeous Splash of Oriental Color: Epiphany Reflections
The Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany is traditionally observed on the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6th.1 In the universal law of the Latin Church, Epiphany is a holy day of obligation (can. 1246); the same law gives to conferences …
Light Shines in the Darkness, And the Darkness Has Not Overcome It
When my alarm went off at 3:15 on a Saturday morning, I briefly questioned my own sanity. I had promised my seven youngest children, ages 14 years to 7 months, that I would bring them to a pre-dawn Rorate Caeli …
Study Truth, Not Bias: Recalling the Purpose of Catholic Education
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). …
On Catholicism and Identity Politics
An acquaintance of mine was once distraught upon learning that I celebrated Easter. From his reactions, it followed that he saw proclaiming the truth of Christianity as inseparable from a colonialist mindset and an implicit Western supremacism disparaging other religions …
A New Guide for Hymns at Mass, and Other Empty Words
Much has been said of a United States Catholic Bishop committee releasing a guide titled Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church. The guide has received cautious praise from Catholics, for it tackles many of the problems with post-Vatican …
Abortion Wins in Argentina. Argentinian Pope Barely Lifts a Finger in Protest
In Argentina, feral women — some of them naked and likely intoxicated — are dancing in the streets in celebration of their newly legislated “right” to murder their own children: The crowd of a few thousand burst into raucous cheers …
President Trump Issues Proclamation Commemorating 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket
It’s really a remarkable thing. This president and this White House, through all the chaos and bluster that seem to constantly surround both, have demonstrated a closeness to the Catholics of this nation that is really unprecedented. From President Trump …
It’s a Wonderful Life: 2020 Edition
There is a classic scene in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life where George Bailey tells his guardian angel, Clarence, “I wish I’d never been born.” That is a statement which some others have likely uttered at some point in …
The Pope’s Religious Indifferentism Isn’t Just Wrong, It’s Downright Puzzling
I’ve written before about the rather significant indications that Pope Francis is a religious indifferentist, and why that’s a bad thing. Regular readers will require no additional explanation. In fact, most of us are absolutely sick to death of talking …
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