God is dead! Such is the news of Good Friday as we contemplate the visceral core of Christian reality: the unjust sentencing, scourging, beating, mocking, cheating, and eventual death of God. Jesus, God who became man, is notorious for challenging our notion of “messiah” itself; the Jews expected a political or military leader, someone who would break the Roman yoke like Judas Maccabeus: The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand, while I make your enemies your footstool.”... Read more
Too often, we as a Church stand divided, divided by politics, ethnic background, and theological sympathies. From the fractured (and fracturing) sphere of primary voting to the constant back and forth of papal support and criticism, we find ourselves breaking apart, tearing at the flesh of Christ’s body like the crown of thorns upon His head. Yet, this should be unacceptable to us; the Church is called to act in unity and love, letting go of prejudices and personal foibles... Read more
Therefore every individual, conscious of his responsibility as a member of Christian and Western civilization, must defend himself against the scourges of mankind, against fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism. Offer passive resistance—resistance—wherever you may be, forestall the spread of this atheistic war machine before it is too late, before the last cities, like Cologne, have been reduced to rubble, and before the nation’s last young man has given his blood on some battlefield for the hubris of a sub-human. Do not forget that... Read more
“Ah, so much is said about human want and misery — I seek to understand it, I have also had some acquaintance with it at close range; so much is said about wasted lives…” – Søren Kierkegaard Physician-Assisted Suicide (henceforth PAS) is hard to talk about for a variety of reasons, though chief among them proponents’ emphasis on autonomy. “It is my life, and so I may choose to end it when and how I wish,” or so goes a... Read more
What follows is a personal and somewhat speculative attempt to understand the relationship between Pope Francis and his often traditionalist critics. I intend it to be a preliminary investigation, not the final word. Please, dear reader, accept it in that spirit. Here at Patheos Catholic, we’ve recently seen a proliferation of articles delineating the various subsets of the Church; from “fundamentalist traditionalists” to “liberals,” the work of compartmentalization remains popular. Some of these pieces have got me thinking: what is... Read more
These are the final words in the first vision of Hadewijch of Brabant (fl. early 13th century). After she is whisked up into a heavenly garden and experiences the fruits of divine mystery, God leaves her with these words: “give all, for all is yours!” Reading this command yesterday (and for the first time), I was struck, struck by the profundity couched in such simple language, overawed by the essential nature of the Lord’s words, hidden beneath of veneer of... Read more
Even among devout Catholics, it’s not uncommon to hear about the “damage” caused by the pope’s occasionally diplomatic language. While not those who would call him “Bergolio” or lambaste the Novus Ordo (for a particularly remarkable example of that, see here) as such, they represent a certain sort of traditionalism that is wary of things not clear-cut, almost Scholastic in their desire to pick out and propound subtle and varied rules. For them, and for many, this pope is not... Read more
(The following contains spoilers. And while I hope to keep them mild, if you haven’t seen the film, but plan to do so, I do not recommend reading on) By and large, The Witch, Robert Eggers’ eerie directorial debut, has been read either as a feminist tale of socially-induced self-designation or a creepy reassertion of the chilling, as opposed to the violent, in the horror genre. Neither of these is wrong, but both miss what, for me as a... Read more
Non-Trump voters do not get Trump: this goes for Democrats, Republicans, most analysts, my colleagues, and just about anyone within my professional universe. He’s considered an anomaly: somehow pulling together GOP and Independent voters from across the political spectrum, challenging the evangelical Cruz and the business-as-usual Rubio. His fast-talking bravado has even his enemies voting for him, sometimes precisely because they think his reign would be so apocalyptic, it would necessarily wake America from its neoliberal slumber. A recent collation... Read more
If you haven’t seen John Oliver’s methodical takedown of Trump, I recommend you check it out. Oliver believes we ought to rename him “Donald Drumpf,” because A. that was once his family’s name and B. because his power stems from his name, which emanates wealth and power. He’s like some video-game boss: find the weak spot and hit till he drops (or rather drumpfs). Oliver’s shtick could be funnier, but it might show us a way forward when it comes... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In