Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.”  Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” – John 18:37-38  “What is truth?”. Perhaps one of history’s greatest ironies is embodied in this question. Imagine, for one moment, the scene. A self-absorbed, decorated... Read more

“I use the grotesque the way I do because people are deaf and dumb and need help to see and hear.”  – Flannery O’Connor A year ago I read the first book in British novelist Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honor trilogy, Men At Arms. It was a fine read with good humor, poignant moments, and some buried truths. I considered myself enlightened for having reached back to a British Catholic’s work from the previous century, and once done brushed my... Read more

I know. It’s just a movie. It takes great license with the truth for the sake of telling a good story. Perhaps the truth is scandalously obscured by a brilliant fiction. Even so, Milos Forman’s and Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus is perhaps my favorite movie (next to ‘A Man For All Seasons‘). And there is a particular scene which is extraordinary.  Antonio Salieri is a proud, hard-working yet frustratingly average composer. Living in 18th century Vienna, Salieri finds himself calamitously outperformed, outloved,... Read more

“The modern world is not evil; in some ways the modern world is far too good. It is full of wild and wasted virtues. When a religious scheme is shattered…, it is not merely the vices that are let loose. The vices are, indeed, let loose, and they wander and do damage. But the virtues are let loose also; and the virtues wander more wildly, and the virtues do more terrible damage. The modern world is full of the old... Read more

G.K. Chesterton was one of the heaviest men you could ever meet…and one of the lightest. Fully six feet, four inches and weighing nearly three hundred pounds, his figure could be quite imposing. But Chesterton is perhaps best known for his kindness, astuteness, and child-like frivolity. Hearty laughter and absent-mindedness flowed from his character. Mystery fiction and poetry flowed from his pen. A man deprived of having his own children, Chesterton possessed a keen understanding of youngsters who found their... Read more

“The pagan, or rational, virtues are such things as justice and temperance, and Christianity has adopted them. The three mystical virtues which Christianity has not adopted, but invented, are faith, hope and charity… The first evident fact, I say, is that the pagan virtues, such as justice and temperance, are the sad virtues, and that the mystical virtues of faith, hope, and charity are the gay and exuberant virtues. And the second evident fact, which is even more evident, is... Read more

There’s something about Mary. There is no doubt. Prior to becoming a Catholic, I recall some heated discussions surrounding the topic of Mary. My wife  (a Catholic) and I (a Lutheran) had declared our religious scuffles a stalemate and were alternating Sundays between Catholic and Lutheran churches. Knowing that we were serious about one another, our faith, and the value of a religious upbringing of future children, the impasse over our religious home grew more problematic by the week. While... Read more

“There are many sorts of letters. But there is one unmistakable sort, which actually caused letter-writing to be invented in the first place, namely the sort intended to give people in other places any information which for our or their sake they ought to know.” (emphasis mine) – Cicero writing letter to Gaius Scribonius, 59 B.C. Ours is a day and age of incredible technological achievement. We are witnesses to daily strides in medicines, a revolution in genetics, computerized advances in... Read more

“Merely as a necessary duty and to prevent me from falling into a mare’s nest, [Father O’Connor] told me certain facts he knew about perverted practices which I certainly shall not set down or discuss here… In my own youth I had imagined for myself any amount of iniquity; and it was a curious experience to find that this quiet and pleasant celibate had plumbed those abysses far deeper than I. I had not imagined that the world could hold... Read more

 Charlie Brown: I guess you were right, Linus. I shouldn’t have picked this little tree. Everything I do turns into a disaster. I guess I really don’t know what Christmas is all about. [shouting in desperation] Charlie Brown: Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about? Linus: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. [moves toward the center of the stage] Linus: Lights, please. [a spotlight shines on Linus] Linus: “And there were... Read more