On September 29, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the three Archangels who have been venerated throughout the history of the Church: Michael (from the Hebrew Who Is Like God?), who defends the friends of God against Satan and all his evil angels; Gabriel (the Power of God), chosen by the Creator to announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation; and Raphael (the Medicine of God or God Heals), the archangel who, in the book of Tobit, takes... Read more
In January 2012, I wrote about the growing trend among Europeans to request that they be “unbaptized”—that is, not content to merely stop attending Mass on Sunday, they wanted to be formally removed from the rolls at their local Catholic parish, and to have any record of their baptism expunged. They wanted to be “unbaptized.” Of course, that’s not possible. As I wrote before, the Sacrament of Baptism leaves an indelible mark on the soul, and formal resignation from the... Read more
Is plastic surgery immoral? Chances are, you think it’s a bad idea to have breast enhancement surgery (in the vernacular, a “boob job”). You think it’s (choose one or more): too risky, too expensive, superficial, degrading to women, likely to cause cancer or adverse side-effects in old age, likely to impair breast-feeding…. Chances are, conversely, that you would unquestioningly shell out $3,500 of your hard-earned dollars for orthodontics to straighten your pre-teen son’s teeth. * * * * * I... Read more
Michael Jackson was pro-life? Yes, according to a new, never-before-released song Jackson penned titled “Song Groove (A/K/A Abortion Papers)“. The song, which is a bonus track on the 25th anniversary re-release of Jackson’s hit album “Bad”, hits store shelves this week, and media are scrambling to tell the story. Catholic site Phatmass posted the complete lyrics here, and Slate magazine included a pro-abortion, anti-God screed here, calling the tune “a goofy mix of religiosity and anxiety about women’s liberation.” Slate’s... Read more
So here she is: The space shuttle Endeavour, on the ground at Los Angeles International Airport on September 21, 2012, after her final flight. The shuttle, riding piggyback on a 747, touched down at LAX after a zigzag cruise over California. She’ll spend a few weeks in the hangar, readying for her final ride aboard a trailer to the California Science Center. I’ve written before about the shuttle astronauts who received communion in Endeavour’s cockpit; but it’s a story that... Read more
Good morning, America, how are you? Don’t you know me—I’m your native son…. –train lyrics by Steve Goodman, “City of New Orleans” I consider myself an experienced traveler. Over the past twenty years I’ve explored seven or eight countries, and all but a couple of the contiguous American states. I’ve traveled at least twice by train: once as a small child, when my grandmother took me to Toledo aboard the last steam train to provide service in Michigan;... Read more
A few days ago, I announced the wonderful story of Orlando’s Cathedral of the Incarnation. On Sunday, September 16, the entire congregation of 140—including a bishop, clergy and laypeople—were received into the Catholic Church. And in the same week, it was announced that St. Mary the Virgin Parish in Arlington, Texas—currently part of the Diocese of Fort Worth—will join the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. (Here in the United States, the Pope has established the Personal Ordinariate... Read more
In his 1963 novel Cat’s Cradle, science fiction writer Kurt Vonnegut introduces a fictional polymorph he calls “ice-nine.” According to Vonnegut, ice-nine is an alternative structure of water that is solid at room temperature. It acts as a seed crystal which, when it comes into contact with liquid water below 45.8° C, causes the rapid freezing of the entire body of water. In Cat’s Cradle “Papa” Monzano, the badly ailing dictator of the mythical island of San Lorenzo, while dying... Read more
I attended a workshop recently led by a Benedictine priest, a great writer and speaker. His message was good, and there was much to take away. Just one thing bothered me: He complained loudly about the Church. Let me put it in context. He’s a priest. That is, he is ordained, consecrated to the service of Holy Mother Church and dedicated to the people of God. But rather than helping to build the Body of Christ, he tears it down... Read more
You may not know this—who thinks of St. Wenceslaus except at Christmastime?—but Friday, September 28, is his feastday. Wenceslaus was born in 903 to a Christian father and a pagan mother. It was his devout grandmother, St. Ludmilla, who educated Wenceslaus in the Christian faith. After Wenceslaus’ father, Duke Wratislaw, died, his pagan mother Dragomir opposed Christianity in the country. Wenceslaus—named Duke by the Emperor Otto I—took the reins of government and placed his duchy under the protection of Germany. ... Read more
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