Catholic Blogs

That injustice has tragic consequences in the lives of real families, who reflect the image of the Trinity.

  He was something absolutely modern. And his insincerity was stunning. Oh, true, he wanted to marry Julia Flyte. She was beautiful, sophisticated and a scion of a wealthy aristocratic English family. And she had a dowry – a huge dowry. It seemed only natural that they should be together, he assured himself. And so Rex [Read More...]

The Irish word for contemplation — or contemplative prayer — is rinnfheitheamh. Yes, that’s a mouthful! I only have enough Irish to be dangerous, and the pronunciation of Irish depends on which of several dialects you’re speaking, but to the best of my knowledge the pronunciation is something like RINN-eh-hev. So why such a big [Read More...]

In explaining why he hired the president of Goldman Sachs for the US Secretary of Commerce, not only did Donald Trump say it was because he did not want a poor person (who would understand the problems of the economy) in office, but also it is because he prefers the rich. That is, Trump suggested [Read More...]

Are you ready for a change? People say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting things to change. Does that describe some aspect of your life at the moment? If you’ve been through a divorce, it’s easy to feel stuck, especially at this time of the year. All [Read More...]

Disgusting, that’s what it was. This morning, after watching the sink slowly fill up and realizing that the half-bottle of drain cleaner I put in over the weekend hadn’t been very effective, I decided to put on my plumber’s hat and tackle the problem at the source. I removed all the bottles of hair spray [Read More...]The post Jesus Is My Plumber appeared first on After the Ecstasy, the Laundry….

Call me morally optimistic, but I think that most people have a basic intuition that pornography is bad. Sure, there are ideologues here and there who really believe that it’s healthy, doesn’t hurt anyone, improves your sex life, empowers women, and all the rest — but these voices have a faint, overly-defensive whine in the [Read More...]

Ruth and Boaz (1825), by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (1-31-14) *** 1 Corinthians 7:36-38 (KJV) But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: [Read More...]

…tomorrow, June 25 at 10 AM. See you there!

I promised a review of Fargo series 3. I’ll start with the two-word version: Watch It. The last episode aired this week, so if you haven’t already discovered this show you can now enjoyably sit and binge-watch the whole thing. My only caution would be, whenever you start you should be prepared to lose the [Read More...]

Reykjavik, Iceland, Jun 24, 2017 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop David Tencer of Reykjavik last week consecrated a new wooden church building, a gift from the Slovak Catholic Church.The church is a tribute to Bishop Tencer, who is a Capuchin Franciscan and a native of Slovakia.Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and two other members of the Slovak government joined Bishop Tencer for the June 17 consecration of the church in Reyðarfjörður, more than 400 miles northeast of Reykjavik, Iceland's capital.Wood is scarce in the volcanic, rocky country of Iceland, so the church was made of Slovakian wood, then disassembled and shipped to Iceland for reassembly.“You will not find a single house or church of this type in Iceland,” Bishop Tencer told The Slovak Spectator.The church is in the shape of a St. Damian Crucifix, an eastern-style icon sometimes called a Franciscan crucifix because St. Francis of Assisi prayed before a cross of this style when he received a commission from God to rebuild the Church.Icelandic sources report that the new church doubles the seating capacity of the previous chapel of the Capuchin friars from 25 to 50, allowing them to accommodate the growing number of people who come from all regions of the country to attend Mass with the friars.Iceland’s population is mostly Lutheran, with the country’s 13,000-some Catholics making up only 3-4 percent of the country’s 350,000 population. Many of Iceland’s Catholic population are Polish immigrants who moved to the country for work.Most of the country’s priests also come from elsewhere, including Poland, Slovakia, Ireland, France, Argentina, Britain, and Germany. The orders of religious sisters with a presence in the country include The Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, The Mexican sisters from Guadalajara, the Missionaries of Charity, and two Carmelite orders.The country is divided into six parishes, and the single Diocese of Reykjavik is immediately subject to the Holy See.But the small size of the Church in Iceland is part of its charm, Bishop Tencer told The Spectator, because this means, “I know many of its members in person.”It is also a result of a turbulent history of Catholicism in the country, which was nearly wiped off the island during the reformation and the rule of a harsh Danish king in the 16th century. Bishop Jon Arason, the island's last Catholic bishop until 1929, was executed in 1550 for his refusal of the reformation.The Slovak prime minister said he was happy to be a part of the project of providing a church building to Iceland, an initiative of the Church in Slovakia, because it paid tribute to the service that Slovaks are doing in Iceland.“So, I’m happy that a piece of Slovakia from Hrinyová, and the bishop, who is also from Slovakia, are representing our country in Iceland,” he told Slovakian media.

Chauncey was most watchful of all. And once he did approach, he hunched over as if he expected to be punished, not petted.

The exemplary figure of the refugee has deep biblical roots in both the Old and New Testaments.

Exhibit A. What’s this?  Aside from a picture of root beer, it’s the default root beer of choice for our family.  For years, this was the goto for special cookouts: July 4, Memorial Day, Labor Day.  We bought root beer at other times of the year, usually the generic brand.  But on certain special occasions, [Read More...]

Yesterday night, I went home to discover in my mailbox that Dariusz Karłowicz’s new book Socrates and Other Saints: Early Christian Understandings of Reason and Philosophy had arrived. The book had been translated from Polish by my friend Artur Rosman, and the back cover features an endorsement from John Milbank, the theologian whose work convinced me [Read More...]

  On the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, I can’t help reflect on the saint who has proven so important to me. See, I am always losing things. Call it inattentive ADHD, call it the age of distraction, call it my academic inclinations, but I lose something on a daily basis. I cannot tell [Read More...]

    Good Letters: Learning Detachment in the Attic Good Letters: A Post About God and sex Good Letters: On leaving one’s thirst unquenched Aleteia: The Mercy of letting one’s yes mean yes, and no mean no Good Letters: What happened to Fun? Image: Jack Baumgartner and the School of the Transfer of Energy

El primero de enero celebramos la solemnidad de María, Madre de Dios.  El Concilio de Éfeso le atribuyó ese título a María (Theotokos en griego) en el año 431. De esa manera, el concilio subrayó una verdad sencilla y profunda: Jesús es verdadero Dios y verdadero hombre. Jesús es Dios encarnado, pues como todo ser humano [Read More...]

So I finally read Michael Chabon’s novel The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, and in spite of its serious flaws, I was still left with that wonderful feeling, Where have you been all my life? Why didn’t I read this thing sooner? The novel’s delights lie in its setting, its genre, and its prose. The setting is [Read More...]

At the upcoming USCCB Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando, my wife and co-author, Lisa Popcak, will be leading a panel titled, The Family and Sexuality:  Challenges and Opportunities.  One of the first questions the panel will address is, “What is often overlooked when attempting to evangelize people about the Catholic vision of sex and love [Read More...]

I have had to stifle tears as a priest waxed eloquently about all of the "good, large families" he was seeing at Mass.

I find myself reading this poem both literally and as a metaphor for our lives. On the literal level, Moira Linehan focuses with intensely loving detail on the Japanese brush painter. The first four lines list with tender concern all the things that might go wrong in the painting process. The next five lines move [Read More...]

A short Organ improvisation by Aurelio Porfiri, recorded in Rome on May 2016.

The Senate healthcare proposal is finally out, and here’s my first, lunchtime assessment. Republicans have promised up and down that they’ll end Obamacare for one reason:  that it’s not working.  Does the typical consumer care about the taxes on high earners?  No, not really.  They care about how it impacts them, or about how they [Read More...]

What is the relationship between American Christians and conspiracy theories anyway?

Fox has set fall premiere dates, including for season two of "The Exorcist," its surprisingly good -- and Catholic -- exorcism drama.

Instead of teaching me to trust and believe in the commitment of others, my dad taught me to fear that the people I love don’t really love me in return. Ever since, I’ve found it very difficult to get close to people, even though I desire close friends more than almost anything. I’m torn between the impulse to make lifelong friends and the impulse to push everyone away.

“Necesitamos, más bien nuestro pueblo necesita, la presencia de la Iglesia Católica. Necesitamos que la Iglesia sea el buen samaritano”. Esta fue la súplica apasionada de Monseñor Yousif Habash, Obispo de la Eparquía Siro-Católica de Nuestra Señora de la Liberación ante aproximada doscientos obispos reunidos en Indianápolis la semana pasada para la sesión de primavera [Read More...]

David Russell Mosley Ordinary Time 21 June 2017 The Edge of Elfland Manchester, New Hampshire Dear Readers, Very briefly, a quick update on my life. As many of you know I started working back in April at a Catholic liberal arts high school. Well, apparently I’ve done some good work because today it was officially [Read More...]

Do you go through a new baby tub after each baby because a) Either it got moldy so you threw it out, or b) You hated it so much you were going to try a different one for the next baby? Maybe you gave up on baby bathtubs all together and just bathe Bebe a [Read More...]

In a recent article from The Atlantic, Italian journalist Anna Momigliano writes about an interesting alliance between two unlikely allies in Europe: Conservative, Pro-Life Catholics and Left-Wing, Pro-Choice Feminists. The cause that has united the two? Surrogacy. Unlike in America, where the practice is legal and not nearly scrutinized to the same degree as other [Read More...]

Ragan Sutterfield new book titled Wendell Berry and the Given Life receives a glowing review from Margaret Rose Realy, Obl OSB, the Catholic Gardener.

-1- There was a time when I did Seven Quick Takes most weeks. I went looking for the image and realized that Jen Fulwiler hasn’t hosted them for…years, now…and doesn’t really blog a ton anymore with everything she has going on. How did I not notice that? When did I stop reading along? I’m not [Read More...]

The Evil of the Love of Money I’m currently reading Killers of the Flower Moon, a non-fiction by David Grann about the murder of the wealthy Osage Indians in the first quarter of the 1900s over the lucrative oil fields owned by tribe members. The horrific acts rooted in greed and corruption work against our [Read More...]

Time has an article about Muslims and Jews in France and Italy who attended Mass this past weekend to show interfaith solidarity with Catholics/Christians. I find this to be a beautiful gesture of solidarity. Unfortunately, I heard that some (one?) churches are allowing parts of the Koran to be read from the pulpit. That only [Read More...]

How long will that take? Turns out Trump told Pope Francis he’d read Laudato si’ and other papal documents after exchanging gifts upon concluding a private audience this morning. How long will it take for Trump to make good on that commitment? I suppose he didn’t say “I’ll read them while I am in office,” [Read More...]

I am having surgery Monday. I wrote about it for the National Catholic Register. I am having surgery next Monday to learn whether or not my cancer has spread. Docs in movies know what is wrong and what to do about it at jump street. Or, if they don’t get it at first glance, they [Read More...]

Have you ever had just reason to fear for someone's safety? I am sure many of you have.

A Catholic writer lives and works at this edge of meaning, between light and the dark.

Red Nose Day – Celebrities, Organizations – All Of Us Can Help End Child Poverty I am pleased to share this good news with you for Red Nose Day! A big thank you to Grace Hill Media and all the work they are doing to promote this good cause: to held end child poverty. Read [Read More...]

Why was St John Fisher–the holy Bishop of Rochester– the only English bishop to stand up to Henry VIII? It is easy, with hindsight, to dismiss the other English bishops as cowards and compromisers. However it is not so easy. Consider the circumstances. First of all, they were in a completely new situation. Europe had [Read More...]

  I’ll get back to my lighthearted rundown of the lovely Trying To Say God conference soon. But first, a touch of the numinous.   I was at your standard wine-and-canapes reception Friday night, the kind of thing well-adjusted people apparently enjoy. Most of us were dressed in fashionably uncomfortable clothes. We all wore our conference name tags [Read More...]

Pediatrics has just released a study on childhood firearms injuries and deaths, and this CNN article is typical of the news coverage.  Unless you read very carefully, deep into the article, you would get the idea that we are having an epidemic of young children shooting one another. (How do I feel about the stories [Read More...]

The real heart of the problem with this anti-woman approach is not just tacky style, however. It’s bad theology.

Questions, questions, questions. We all have them, and we certainly have plenty about the faith. No one will ever have the answer to every possible question in the Catholic faith. This is why I thoroughly enjoy resources that allow me to expand my knowledge about the faith. A Priest Answers 27 Questions You Never Thought [Read More...]

Following a tradition which has existed since the beginning of the Church, Catholics agree that Jesus is miraculously present in the elements of Communion.

A few years ago, I posted on the possibility of giving an epistemological twist on the idea of Mary as the icon of discipleship. There I hinted that part of her iconography is demonstrated in her life as a way of knowing, particularly as the Church’s journey to the eschaton enters a postmodern phase. Over the [Read More...]

Raymond Sickinger, a professor of history at Providence College, has written an impressive new biography of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, the mid-19th Century French layman who Pope St. John Paul II called an "apostle of charity" and "a precursor of the social doctrine of the Church."

It is frequently observed that citizens use cognitive heuristics, or short-cuts, to make sense of the world. One unfortunate manifestation of this is our tendency to credit or blame the President for almost everything. The same can be true of our attitudes toward the Pope. A recent example is Matthew Schmitz’s suggestion in a New [Read More...]

I’ve never been good at beauty. Yes, of course I can in some sense understand beauty – for instance could tell you the parts of a piece of literature that make it beautiful. But I usually don’t permit beauty to draw me out of myself – maybe because I’ve been pushed and pulled and pinned and [Read More...]

This is how I felt becoming a father. It was something I had only experienced through my own father's love.

And so you leave our hallways, students. I can you see you up ahead of us wearing your mortar boards and robes, and this is how I will always at last see you: turned away to what is ahead, clothed in the thin silk we gave you. How easy it is to tear, to scuff [Read More...]

   “Paradox” by Brett Jordan is licensed under CC by 2.0   Whenever a new and controversial papal or conciliar document appears on the scene (Ahem…Amoris Laetitia) there will always be, as smoke follows fire, people claiming that what the document teaches is in contradiction to previous teaching.  The story of nearly every schism follows this [Read More...]

Last week I wrote about what happened the day that my son Anthony died by committing suicide, it had been five very fast but extremely heavy weeks. Today it’s six weeks and a day after the one year anniversary of my uncle’s death. To sum up how this last year has been let me tell [Read More...]

When I began playing shows at Marquette University, few Milwaukee artists were making things happen on a national level. Peter Mulvey, who is ten years older, had the label, the records, the tour dates and artist collaborations to inspire any budding musician. Over the last ten years, Peter and my paths have crossed multiple times, [Read More...]

In which spout off about my new found love for Night Prayer and the concept of praying rhythmically throughout the day in general. How is your prayer life? Is it easy or difficult? Is it full of consolation, desolation, or just silence? Do you have someone to talk to about your prayer life? This is [Read More...]The post How’s Your Prayer Life? (June, 2017) appeared first on Time Off Purgatory with Steve the Missionary.

It was I, dear reader, who said, on this very blog—here—that if Mr. Trump wanted to, he could save the Little Sisters of the Poor from the Obamacare mandate by signing an executive order. Even LSD News, of all places, noted that the president was keeping the Obamacare requirement. Oh, I was contradicted for that [Read More...]

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be giving the keynote speech at this year’s Doxacon (a Christian convention on fantasy and science fiction)! Tickets are on sale now (and there’s an early bird rate, so if you think you’ll come, or you have a friend who would be interested, go ahead and book). My husband [Read More...]

Over at Aleteia, they’re remembering the birthday of a friend of mine. He’s one of the fellows who helped bring me into the Church. My buddy Blaise Pascal is a lot like me. That is, excepting the obvious fact that he was a mathematical genius, inventor of a calculator, etc., and though I enjoy mathematics, [Read More...]

As much as we may want to think that we can control our lives and destinies, The Handmaid's Tale serves as a bitter reminder.