The COVID-19 lockdown has placed a greater burden on the poor as many have lost their jobs or homes and are seeking assistance. In a previous post I discussed the obligation of almsgiving according to the authoritative sources of the Church. Here I argued that this obligation is binding on all Christians according to their…
Eighty years ago this week, on January 12, 1941, James Joyce (Dublin 1882 — Zurich 1941), a great wordsmith, an Irish writer counted among the greatest of the twentieth century, fell into a coma following an operation for an ulcer performed the previous day. On January 13th, he died. He was less than a month…
Don’t you hate it when fellow Catholics say to you: “The Church has faced crises worse than this one before”? You hate it because you know it’s false. Of several popes who flirted with heresy, only two seem to have crossed a line: Honorius and John XXII. Honorius made one error in regard to Christology;…
1P5 regular Eric Sammons was recently named the Editor-in-Chief of Crisis Magazine. Today, he has a piece there looking at the demographic shift that has happened over the past year when it comes to Mass attendance, and it’s about what you’d expect: Faithful Catholics in America have long lamented the dreadful Mass attendance numbers of the…
On Dec. 21st, 2020, Pope Francis made his annual Christmas address to the Roman Curia in which he contrasts the concept of crisis with that of conflict. He also called for a year long study of Amoris Laetitia. This article is a partial response to the pope’s address. “Jesus, you really do love your…
Editor’s Note: In light of the news that Pope Francis has changed canon law to accommodate official women “lectors” and “acolytes,” we are re-publishing this article, which originally appeared here on July 17, 2015. In many contemporary debates concerning the priesthood, one rarely hears a genuinely theological account of what makes a priest a priest.…
Back around the turn of the millennium, I was invited one day to sing for the first time the Mass of the Dedication of a Church (Introit: Terribilis est locus iste), at a solemn Mass on the anniversary of a parish run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. It was the first time I…
Today Steve reviews what happened in Washington DC yesterday with the storming of the U.S. Capitol, and offers some thoughts on what we’ve seen since November 3rd, and what comes next. VIDEO: AUDIO ONLY: [powerpress] RELATED LINKS: Backdoor Santa – Cocktail Recipe (I recommend Bulleit Rye for this one; gives a nice brightness to the…
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 to be in very bad condition. There is an enormous amount of speculation going on…
The Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany is traditionally observed on the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6th. On that day, the Church recalls Jesus Christ’s epiphany, or manifestation, to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi. God had been preparing the human race for this event ever since Adam’s fall from grace. The Israelites had their…
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 Mass – a sung Latin Mass that takes place during Advent and honors Our Lady. …
