As Catholics, we try not to be smug. We really do. But the world makes this task exceedingly difficult when they take our stuff. The truth is that Western Civilization owes its very existence to the Catholic Church, what with the saving efforts of her monks during the Dark Ages, her development Scientific method, the University System, the agricultural advances of the monasteries and – of course – the wealth of art and literature the Church has inspired and produced.... Read more
Guess what I’m doing right now? I’ll tell you: The Total Consecration To Jesus Christ Through Mary, which I am currently in the business of renewing. It is a method of Consecration to Christ written by Louis de Montfort, a 17th century Saint, which claims Mary the Mother of God as the surest way to her Son. I aim to renew my promise to be her slave. “Woah now,” I hear the understandably misunderstanding voices cry. “Slave?” Yes, and in the only... Read more
I have a new hero. He is a janitor at Dortmund’s Museum Ostwall, and he’s in big trouble for accidentally cleaning up a puddle that turned out to be an essential part of a 1.1 million dollar work of art. This piece… …is now ruined. And I’m roflin. I am instantly reminded of C.S. Lewis’ incredible essay, on Good Works and Good Work, in which he stated – with wonderful appropriateness to the current situation: But […] I doubt whether we... Read more
…we have an official beer blessing. V. Our help is in the name of the Lord. R. Who made heaven and earth. V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Bless, + O Lord, this creature beer, which thou hast deigned to produce from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of thy holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may... Read more
G.K. Chesterton, in his noble goal to make the life of a Catholic blogger unbearably easy, said that “the Catholic Church is the only thing that frees a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age.” You might think I cannot possibly add to such a perfectly rounded statement of truth. And in one sense you’d be right – I can’t – but dead wrong in another, for I have a bad habit of trying. For if there... Read more
Gotta love my school. Franciscan Students For Life getting a pro-life flash mob on in Pittsburgh: Fear joyful movements. Read more
Abstract, spiritual truths have extremely practical, daily effects. For example, the arguably abstract concept that we are made in the image and likeness of God has the extremely tangible result of us applying the Spiritual to the world around us and going out stargazing. I believe this same idea to be true of St. Paul’s warning to the Romans, that “the wages of sin is death.” Sweet, Paul! Very abstract, we can apply it to the supposed judgment of the afterlife;... Read more
Fog in Rio. It’s moments like these that blow my mind. Because the average Christian sees it and says “It’s a miracle!” True. The average atheist sees it and says, “It’s an admittedly sweet event, but not outside the realms of good probability!” Also true. So what are we to make of la epicness? Exactly what I talked about in my last post, How To Convert. The miracle is that we are struck, atheist and theist alike. The miracle is... Read more
The common view of religious conversion seems to be this: There are many ways one can stumble towards the gentleman we call God. And on the surface, I agree. After all, rainbows and relationships have lead men to faith, as have Holocausts and heartaches. Collins converted at the sight of beauty; Walker Percy at the sight of a Jew in New York City. Dorothy Day became a Catholic by a series of small and slow steps; St. Paul by one... Read more
Convinced as I am that the only way to save the world is by way of beauty, I’m going to start doing my part. Once a week I’ll be highlighting a great Catholic artist (this includes non-Catholic artists being Catholic) who is busy creating beauty. I got lot of great recommendations on Facebook – please let me know if you have any more! Let’s start with Josh Garrels. A reader put me onto his music, and let me tell you, it’s fantastic.... Read more
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