On this All Saints Day, in honor of the late Barbara Curtis, I am republishing (and slightly tweaking) an entry I wrote last Lent on my personal blog, The Dawn Patrol, that was a favorite of Barbara’s: A young television actress who writes and directs her own work recently told an interviewer why she has chosen to put herself in nude scenes. “To feel some kind of ownership of your own body,” she said, “the way getting tattoos does.” I... Read more
“The current God Debate does not seek to make its opponent laugh, but to make an already sympathizing audience sneer. One wonders whether debates aim to convince at all — an object which demands the respect and love of the other — or whether they exist entirely to publicly dismiss others, a thrill unique to those — myself included — who forsake the pursuit of truth for that of popularity. Sarcasm, wit and humor — which all have their place... Read more
UPDATE, 9:45 p.m.: Elizabeth Foss reports that Barbara has passed away. Barbara was a true Proverbs 31 woman of valor. I am thankful to have known her, albeit mostly from a distance, and am so sorry that she is gone. Please remember her now and during the month of All Souls, and keep her family in your prayers. Original post follows: I am distressed to learn that Mommy Life blogger Barbara Curtis, mother of 12 (four of whom have Down syndrome),... Read more
After my post the other day about Leonard Cohen, my friend William Doino, Jr., pointed me to another Cohen song with a religious message: “If It Be Your Will.” Here it is, performed with crystalline beauty by the Webb Sisters. Praying that the Lord give us shelter from all our storms, and especially from Sandy. Since I live in Washington, D.C., which is expected to lose power (here is what the view looked like from my balcony a short while... Read more
A Leonard Cohen fan blog revealed this week that the legendary singer-songwriter’s home has images of St. Kateri Tekakwitha practically everywhere you look. Cohen has been fascinated with Tekakwitha at least since 1966, when her story provided the backbone for his novel Beautiful Losers. Unfortunately the novel is filled with obscenity and the kind of cheap slurs against the Church that were (and are) de rigeur among hipsters; moreover, it is so James Joycean as to be almost unreadable. Writing... Read more
Please pray for my friend Deirdre McQuade, who fell seriously ill today at work and was taken to the emergency room. From what I have been told, quick treatment saved her, but she will need ongoing prayers as she recovers. UPDATE, 10/27/12, 3:55 p.m.: Latest word is very good. Deirdre is in good spirits and that the results of a medical test are very encouraging. She is lucid, able to discuss her condition with doctors and friends, and has received... Read more
I just read Father Robert Barron’s column “Saying No to Nietzche” and have a few questions, which I would like to publicly pose to him and to anyone who would like to answer: Father, when Jesus spoke of the joining together of spouses in marriage, “They are no longer two but one flesh,” was he really trying to say something “inescapably ‘sexy,” as you write? That is, is “one flesh” in Sacred Scripture always simple shorthand for the conjugal act?... Read more
Catholic new-media expert Angela Sealana, who blogs at Inspired Angela, confesses today that she used to think of me as “that chastity speaker.” When she saw that I had written My Peace I Give You, a new book offering a Catholic spirituality of healing from childhood sexual abuse, her first reaction that it didn’t apply to her situation. Yet, she writes, “I wondered: Would the book do me any good?” Her answer: “YES.” God recently worked through a book to facilitate my journey towards... Read more
If you attended Mass yesterday for the newly instituted feast day for Blessed John Paul II, did you catch the secret messages in the opening Collect? They’re there—but they’re easier to spot if your parish celebrates the Latin Novus Ordo. Here is the Collect for Blessed John Paul II’s feast day in English: O God, who are rich in mercy and who willed that the blessed John Paul the Second should preside as Pope over your universal Church,... Read more
Pope Benedict’s canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha yesterday gave the Church a new patroness for those who have suffered physical, emotional, or sexual abuse in childhood— particularly those whose abuse was perpetrated by family members or family friends. Born in 1656 to a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother in present-day New York, St. Kateri lost her parents to smallpox when she was four. The disease also struck Kateri herself, leaving her with disfiguring scars and poor vision. Kateri was... Read more
Feast of Eden
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