What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. –Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2) Today, my friends, two stories from the Land Down Under. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, two young teenagers—Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet—meet and fall in love. Their relationship is doomed from the start, since their families are enemies. Juliet tells her beloved Romeo that names are meaningless—that she loves the person who is called “Montague” and... Read more
Winkelhimer Smith, the rescued squirrel, plays the Timmy Tum Tum game with his owner. This video is making the rounds–you may have already seen it. But did you notice, at the end, that Winky’s owner says he listens to the Jimmy Swaggart program? All creatures great and small, the Lord God loves them all. Read more
This is a story that’s just hard to believe: That an atheist would create obscene pictographs of Lego people in sexual situations, publish them as “Bible stories,” and expect us to like it. Brendan Powell Smith, the artist/author in question, did just that. I wrote about some of the scintillating pictures today over at Patheos. Under “The Law” for example, there are sections on: Sexual discharges Leviticus 15:16 “When a man ejaculates semen . . .” (the scene is of a Lego... Read more
‘Tis the season for New Year’s Resolutions! Christmas gifts have been unwrapped; meals have been cooked and savored; you’ve cleaned the house and watched football and played with the grandkids. And now, we look to the future! Oh, how things will change in 2012! We—collective Americans—will be more organized, will get to work on time, pray more, drink less, stop smoking, get out of debt. News media and self-help gurus are stepping up to remind you that it’s time to... Read more
You hear stories all the time about supposed apparitions and supernatural events: Jesus in a soft taco; a crucifix in the clouds; an image in the glass on the side of a building; a statue of Mary that weeps. If you pride yourself on being a rational person, you may chuckle to yourself and shake your head, wondering why people are so gullible, so willing to embrace such superstitions. The story of Our Lady of the Underpass is one such... Read more
Good clean (and cold!) fun on a winter day. Read more
On my To-Do List for a long time now: An article on Detroit’s historic Assumption Grotto Catholic Church. Founded in 1830, the parish was in the news in November, when the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Pastoral Council submitted to the archbishop their list of recommended parish closures and consolidations. Under the proposed plan, 60 parishes would merge down to 21 and an additional seven church buildings would close. One of the parishes at risk if the proposal is accepted is Assumption... Read more
I love to see the Sisters in treatment at Guest House. From around the country and around the world they come, bringing their burdens and their fears, but also their hope. Behind our gates, they confront the addiction that has caught them, interrupting their service to the world and to their Heavenly Father. They stay with us for four to six months or longer–praying and learning and studying, changing the ebb and flow of their days, working the 12 Steps.... Read more
In the week leading up to Christmas, as we awaited the birth of the Christ Child in a humble stable in Bethlehem, the daily readings focused on God’s choice of three simple, unsophisticated women to be mothers whose sons would change history. Hannah, Mother of Samuel Hannah prayed to God for a son, and in humble trust, she promised that if God granted her wish she would dedicate her son to the Lord. God heard her prayer, and Hannah gave... Read more
Pope Benedict XVI, in addressing the College of Cardinals and the Roman Curia today, offered a pretty sobering year-end status report about the Church in Europe. The Continent, he warned, is facing an ethical crisis which has been fueled by an economic and financial crisis. Most importantly, Europe is facing a crisis of faith. As evidence of that faith crisis, the Pope cited the diminishing number of churchgoers and their increasing age, the decline in the number of vocations to... Read more
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