I’ve been pushing a line on 2016. Last week I wrote about the nasty blend of internet cynicism, real-world nihilism, and rampant desire for structures of meaning that has made 2016 so utterly terrible. There, however, I did not attend to something with enough precision: the internet. Its role should not be underestimated. What if 2016 is merely the logical conclusion of the cultural influences our increased digital connection has made possible? What if the internet is not just a... Read more
A[c] as I biheeld into the eest an heigh to the sonne, I seigh a tour on a toft trieliche ymaked, A deep dale bynethe, a dongeon therinne, With depe diches and derke and dredfulle of sighte. A fair feeld ful of folk fond I ther bitwene— Of alle manere of men, the meene and the riche, Werchynge and wandrynge as the world asketh. (Piers Plowman, B Text, Prologue, ll. 13-19) These words come from the beginning of one of... Read more
Because, frankly, I haven’t seen one. At liturgy, I have yet to come across the ruins of East Aleppo re-constructed (or recently destructed) before the Iconostasis; every week we manage to avoid stealing the priest’s hand-cross in a bid for clerical authority. The Ultramontanists and Conciliarists have yet to come to open blows. But perhaps that’s because that church is Byzantine. And yet, at daily Mass I have seen little hand-wringing, even as our two priests—one, a kind and pious... Read more
2016 has been cursed again and again as a year of unbelievable travail, a year so overladen with trauma and difficulty all the way up from the personal to the national and global that many cannot wait to fade into the annals of history. Somehow the four digits themselves have taken on a sort of shamanic energy; some people seem to hope superstitiously that if the numbers just pass by, if the six ticks away and emerges anew as a... Read more
I have been meaning to tell this story for a while, but the beginning of Latin Advent seems as good a time as any. In the quiet darkness of the November-December cold—the time of prayer for the dead and hopeful expectation of the Nativity of God—some light is always needed: an Advent candle, a prayer, in this case, a story. It was a few weeks ago, maybe a month or two at this point, when I heard the following from... Read more
“Hate” might be too strong a word. Say “dislike,” “display skepticism towards,” even “avoid.” Think of the pacifist faced with St. Joan of Arc, or, by contrast, the crusade-minded Christian who has to reckon with Abba Moses the Ethiopian or St. Martin of Tours. This is, often, even true of our political commitments: the Right-leaning American wrestles with Blessed Óscar Romero while the Left-leaning one contends with, say St. Junipero Serra. But typically our resistances to specific saints are not... Read more
The following is a guest post by a friend whose story of conversion from Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy and back to Catholicism has taken a lot of bravery to tell. These thoughts are her own; please be respectful in reading. I touched the outstretched crucifix, sobbing in the confessional, and received my penance. The priest’s gnarled hands formed a shroud of dark flesh around the brass figure of Christ’s tormented body. I choked out the Act of Contrition, quieted myself,... Read more
One must be very careful when speaking about Communism, and I don’t mean because it’s a blacklisted word to be avoided at all costs; one must be careful because the popular understanding differs markedly from what the word is actually supposed to mean—its many nuances and historical instantiations. Take, for example, Pope Francis’ recent comments on Communism: It has been said many times and my response has always been that, if anything, it is the communists who think like Christians.... Read more
Yesterday I had six hours of class—six hours that bought me a whole day to reflect on what was a night filled with conflicting and difficult emotions. In what follows, I will attempt total honesty about myself, about my feelings throughout election night. That may sound silly: who shouldn’t attempt to be honest? But after an election like this, it’s easy to collapse inner perturbations and surprises into a simple narrative. I refuse to let myself do that. After that,... Read more
It’s here; it’s finally here—Election Day, November 8, 2016. For many Catholics today has taken on virtually apocalyptic overtones—regardless of candidate. And, unfortunately, yesterday’s actions by Fr. Frank Pavone have only served to demonstrate and now reinforce how strongly people feel about this hallowed, secular feast and the results for which they hope. Fittingly, however, today is something more important within my Church—the Ruthenian (or Byzantine) Catholic Church: the Synaxis of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and of all the... Read more
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