The year comes to a close and I find myself once again pulling my favorite books off my dusty shelves and piles on the floor. Last week I penned a list of the best non-fiction books (theology, philosophy, science, and l’autre) I read this year. Poetry and novels open up wounds and worlds that usually remain closed in the imprecise-precision of non-literary prose. I don’t want to say that this list is more important than last week’s . . .... Read more
For the councils of the church, politics is traditional. After Vatican Council II, many people have argued that, among other problems with the council, it was too political, causing its outcome to be suspect. For a long time, I have said it is the reverse: if it weren’t so overtly political, it would be so unusual, so un-traditional, it would raise the question of its status as an ecumenical council. This is not to say the councils are about politics,... Read more
Here’s what’s not weak this week on Cosmos. It take this list of trending posts to 11 with a special holiday/ethnic twist. 1. 3 Ways Vatican’s ZooTV Exposes Modern Theology’s Weaknesses 2. The Cosmos TOP10 Non-Fiction Books of 2015 3. Was Vatican 1 Shockingly More Political Than Vatican 2? 4. George W. Obama Says Islam is a Religion of Peace 5. Benedict XVI’s Theology of Bacon (& Creation) 6. EXCLUSIVE: Longtime Immigration Lawyer & Pastor Explains the Refugee Process 7. The Arab Ethnic Liberation Theology of Guadalupe... Read more
In loving memory of Fr. Sam Homsey C.PP.S. (1910 – 2004) As a teenager, I played basketball on a small cement slab behind the parish rectory where we lived. My Dad was the pastoral coordinator at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (in Brady, Texas) at the time. I was told that the place I played at was once the entryway for a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. In that small chapel, there would be Spanish-language Masses offered for... Read more
The year is nearly done, kaput, fin and therefore it is time to take stock (& wipf?) of my reading this annus. Part of the fun consists in figuring out my reading habits for the year. Part of the torture consists in limiting myself to only ten books. Part of the arbitrariness consists in devising categories that will help me limit myself and figure out my reading habits. The following are the categories I’ve chosen out of my hat-less head: theology,... Read more
The projections of animals and non-Catholic human-animals onto the facade of St. Peter’s led to some predictably apocalyptic responses. They were apocalyptic in the sense of revealing something that’s usually hidden from view. The almost automatic accusations of sacrilege, blasphemy, and apostasy from some Catholics against their Supreme Pontiff reveal some important weaknesses in modern Catholic theology. I won’t quote or link to them, however, Mark Shea has. Modern theology is based upon a Neo-Thomist separation between nature and grace, between... Read more
The differences between George Bush and Barack Obama on the economy, military, spying (on you, the reader), and even abortion are so minimal that the two presidents can be combined into a hybrid creature called George W. Obama. However, last night it struck me that they might also share at least one positive trait. Epiphanies like that are always welcome. Barack Obama has caught so much flack on his rhetoric about Islam being a religion of peace that I don’t... Read more
The environment and Bacon are closely tied in Benedict XVI’s theology. The lack of major prohibitions against bacon is something that clearly sets apart Christianity from the other major world religions, that is, besides the more obvious examples of the spiritualized materialism of the Incarnation and Resurrection. Islam doesn’t do bacon. Judaism is not hot on bacon. Hinduism is somewhat ambivalent about pork too–depends on your caste. This disdain for pork is related to taboos around boundary-mixing of the sort you... Read more
Catholic History is stranger than you think. [Léger] spoke to me with excitement about his disappointment with the doctrinal schemas: speculative theses that only repeat Vatican I and don’t consider the needs and possibilities of our time. We aren’t any longer at the time of the doctrinal liberalism of 1860 . . . Marie-Dominique Chenu, Vatican II Notebook Vatican II has been, since it was convened, the most controversial council in the history of the contemporary church. Soft traditionalists, many... Read more
What’s not weak this week on Cosmos the in Lost. 1. Advent and the Pointlessness of God 2. The Discovery of God: God IS Dead? Long Live God! 3. On Noses and the Incarnation 4. Two Nativities? Can You Divine the Original Christmas Story? 5. The Pope’s Sympathy for the Devil 6. Squishy New Atheist Pieties Miss Gospel Love’s Ruthless Demands 7. Just Another Atheist Jewish Catholic: An Interview With Damon Linker 8. In the Beginning Was Poverty: Advent Should Rob You Blind 9. American Conservatives Are, After All,... Read more
Cosmos The In Lost
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