Sister Eliseea Papacioc visiting CNEWA

Prayer and The Life of an Icon

May 23, 2013 By

Two lovely pieces about the prayer and life of Icon-writing. Over at CNEWA, the Romanian Orthodox nun and Icon-writer Sister Eliseea Papacioc visited the New York office of CNEWA and talked a little about process: “I’m very connected with God when I do this,” she said, “and God is doing everything through my hand. I can’t paint without prayer. This comes from heaven, from the words of God, and if you can’t pray you can’t call yourself an iconographer. The prayer comes in your heart from God. Through this prayer, God … [Read More...]

It is a strange thing to promote a book…UPDATED

May 22, 2013 By

I am a little late getting around to talking about the Patheos Book Club, which is currently featuring my book, among others. As I've expressed to some friends, I'm always really happy to promote books I like (and I like my book!) but promoting Strange Gods has been a little daunting for me. I'm not sure how to do it without sounding like this: Yeah, that cracks me up. But on the other hand, I'm always afraid this will happen: So, the book club is featuring an excerpt you can read here, and Tony Rossi's recent interview with me … [Read More...]

“The Whole World in Her Hands”: A Gyno-Maniacal War on Men? – UPDATED

May 21, 2013 By

My First Things column this week draws on the coarse and destructive hook-up culture that has been not only embraced by women but is in some ways being driven by them: Writing for The Atlantic in September of 2012, Hanna Rosin argued that the “hookup culture” so prevalent on college campuses and in the lives of young adults is “an engine … [Read More...]

Benedictine Voices: Angels and Saints Debuts at #1

May 18, 2013 By

So, Katrina is in one of her hissing moods, tonight, and I have decided that what she needs is to listen to the incredibly sweet tone of the Benedictines of Mary, whose latest album, Angels and Saints at Ephesus has debuted at #1 on the Classical music charts. Why am I doing this? Because that's just the kind of gal I am, and also because "music … [Read More...]

Obama Channels Leslie Chow: “Not my pro’lem!”

May 17, 2013 By

Peggy Noonan has it just right when she writes: The president, as usual, acts as if all of this is totally unconnected to him. He's shocked, it's unacceptable, he'll get to the bottom of it. He read about it in the papers, just like you. Lately, when I watch the president act like no one tells-him-anything-why-he's … [Read More...]

French Kids Rescued from “the tyranny of their own desires…” – UPDATED

May 17, 2013 By

Over on Facebook, Melanie Bettinelli -- the wise and graceful blogress at The Wine Dark Sea -- posted this article from Psychology Today on Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD, or at least not the way American kids seem to have it. To the extent that French clinicians are successful at finding and repairing what has gone awry in the child's social … [Read More...]

Pope Francis and I are in a Vulcan Mind Meld!

May 16, 2013 By

We've joked that our new Pontiff and I seem to be enjoying an unusual bit of synchonicity on the issue of idolatry. In his wonderful talks and homilies he touches frequently on the issue, enough so that Brandon Vogt -- the hardly sleeping and inventive Brandon Vogt -- took the time to create this amusing photoshop for me: Here's Pope … [Read More...]

Catholic Bloggers Refute Resurgent “Sex is Dirty” Narrative – UPDATES!

May 15, 2013 By

If you look around our landing page today, it might seem like we've got sex and abortion on the brain, here at PatheosCatholic. It's not true; we also talk about music and tv and baseball and gardening and books and politics, of course. But Calah Alexander, who is dealing with pneumonia, managed to write a barn-burner of a post yesterday about … [Read More...]

Why do YOU skip Mass? UPDATED

May 15, 2013 By

Lisa Hendey posts on an interesting study on why Catholics skip mass. I've written over at First Things about a brother of mine who goes to Mass every day of the week, but never on a Sunday; the noise and the over-busyness of Sunday liturgies is beyond what his fragile nerves can endure, and rather than spend an hour being uncharitable, … [Read More...]

IRS, DOJ, Benghazi: How we Got Here & Just Who was Easily Led? UPDATED

May 15, 2013 By

The other day, pondering the slickness of the Obama presidential campaigns and the lousy job Americans have done in their interview/hiring process in recent elections, I joked: If America were an office, and its citizens were its manager...It [has hired] dazzling bullshitters over the doggedly competent, and now wonders why there appears to be … [Read More...]

« Previous Posts

What it’s like to be Jay Carney Right Now – UPDATED

May 14, 2013 By

I say this with a little sympathy and fully recognizing that the being press secretary to any president is a horrible, horrible job. The only job more thankless and trouble-prone would be "Catholic Bishop." But I can't get the image out of my mind -- what it must be like to be Carney right now, as he walks toward the White House Press Room: … [Read More...]

BREAKING: #Gosnell Guilty on Feast of Fatima – NEW UPDATES

May 13, 2013 By

Interesting that this morning it seemed unlikely that a verdict would come, and this afternoon, on the Feastday of Our Lady of Fatima, suddenly the jury decided: The jury in the murder trial of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell returned a verdict and found him guilty on three of the four first-degree murder charges he faced. Gosnell was … [Read More...]

Perhaps America Needs Peggy Olsen to Serve its Inner Don Draper

May 13, 2013 By

Photojournalists love to capture politicians with backlighting, or standing before round seals and symbols; it helps the subject to stand out, of course, and where presidents are concerned the dramatic halo effect might be making a sincere or ironic editorial point. I wonder if there is something subconscious about it, though; do we need to see our … [Read More...]

Brother Thelonious: A Second Favorite Beer

May 11, 2013 By

We've talked before about my love for Guinness. I only drink perhaps six glasses a year, but I love the black-and-tan that, when held up to the light, reveals itself to be a gorgeous ruby red. And there is nothing better, after a hot day of sightseeing than a cold one of these: I am not familiar with the Job-Recovery Ale that Frank … [Read More...]

“Why Weren’t Embassy Attacks Under Bush & Clinton Investigated?” – UPDATES

May 10, 2013 By

There is an argument I am seeing show up pretty regularly on Twitter. Someone tweets a link to a news story asking valid questions about Benghazi, or suggesting that there has been a cover-up (and history shows that fallout from coverups are always worse than the incidents that preceded them, but politicians never learn) someone intent on … [Read More...]

Shall we Embrace Human Wholeness in Church and in Government?

May 10, 2013 By

Deacon Greg features this with thoughts on the importance of second chances, and that's certainly part of this bit with Governor Christie and Former Governor McGreevey, both in context and subtext. But I'm seeing something else. I see an increasingly recurrent theme being given expression here, but it's one coming from various corners, and with … [Read More...]

Catholic and Christian Themes in Star Trek?

May 10, 2013 By

What do you think? Every Christian Star Trek fan recalls Stardate 4041.7. That was the day that I realised that, with very few exceptions, Star Trek is consistently the most pro-Christian and pro-Catholic show in American television history. The quintessential science fiction television programme by which all others are judged has had a … [Read More...]

A Rave for “Save Send Delete”

May 9, 2013 By

"Outside of the subway, Catholic mass is the only place I have had that experience of diversity." -- Danusha Goska, Save Send Delete So, a month ago Julie Davis -- our dear, delightful bookworm, Jules, who is such a Happy Catholic -- made a kindle-gift to me of that book you see here, Save Send Delete, and I was caught somewhere … [Read More...]