I first met Thomas Merton in his early book Seeds of Contemplation. I was a philosophy student in the 1960’s, wondering how such an airy pursuit could matter in a time as troubled as the one I lived in. Merton’s life spanned a lot more trouble than mine had, but he managed to satisfy both my need for peace and my urge to explore the terrain of thought. It didn’t hurt that I found in and behind Seeds echoes of... Read more
Around August every year migrant workers of Mexican descent find work in Wisconsin cherry orchards. As I did mission work among these workers’ families, I noticed a great devotion to St. Martin de Porres. Here’s what Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals says about Martin de Porres in the December 9 entry: Martin de Porres was a Dominican brother who is often celebrated by mixed-race people and those committed to ending racism and segregation. He was born in Lima,... Read more
A provincial governor in fourth-century Italy, Ambrose was drafted to serve as bishop before he was even baptized. Reluctant to serve the chuch at first, he took the task seriously when he finally accepted the call. Ambrose gave away all of his possessions, took up a strict schedule of daily prayer, and committed himself to the study of Scripture. Called from the world of politics to serve the church, Ambrose was a leader who spoke truth to power and did... Read more
The second main part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, begins with what we used to call the Offertory. The imaginary space visitor whom we’ve met in this series remembers that word from a previous visit back in the 1950’s. She was puzzled then. There didn’t seem to be much of an offering going on. Servers carried so-called gifts, mere bread and wine, to the altar. The priest made a kind of fuss over them. But there they... Read more
Ranking abortion and climate change The American bishops, meeting in Baltimore recently, decided not to update their longstanding “Faithful Citizenship” guide. This is their quadrennial exercise in making the Church relevant to American politics. The current version of the guide dates from 2007. Circumstances and politics have changed over the last 12 years, but this guide to voters’ consciences has not. Instead this year the bishops merely added some ancillary materials, including videos and one controversial word: preeminent. Commonweal correctly... Read more
Today is for beginnings. It’s the first day of Advent, which begins the Church’s liturgical year. And it happens to be December 1, the day I turn back to the beginning of my favorite book of daily prayers, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. This day I begin a new series on heroes of faith inspired by that book. Every two or three days on average, the book introduces a heroic person (often but not always one of the... Read more
God is in the process of creating a new world in the midst of the world that we humans have constructed. The Creed, which Catholics and other Christians recite every Sunday, is the sign that points to that world. This is the delayed continuation of the series on the Mass. People who know me know some of the reasons why I haven’t written for a while. These are the earlier posts in this series: The Mass: Is it Still the... Read more
Between the Liturgy of the Word (see this post) and the next main part of the Mass stands a small part we call the Creed. Our imaginary visitor from space, who has seen both today’s and the pre-Vatican II Mass, notices little difference here except for the obvious change from Latin to English. But there is something so odd, so contrary to our expectations that she might be the only one noticing it. (Remember she doesn’t have any expectations.) This... Read more
Trump begins withdrawal from Paris Climate Agreement On June 1, 2017, Donald Trump announced that he would pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement at the earliest possible date. The earliest possible date to begin the process was November 4, 2019. On that date, through Secretary of State Pompeo, Trump announced the formal beginning of the process. In fulfillment of a campaign promise, Trump threatens to commit the world’s most anti-life deed. If completed it will result... Read more
You can tell from these posts on the Mass that I view the liturgical reform since Vatican II positively. I think most Catholics do too, but many do not. That fact became clear to me last week. My sister mailed me some articles that a priest of the Wisconsin parish where I grew up published in the local newspaper. The articles, she says, disturbed many Catholics. My response to him, which that newspaper may or may not print, also makes... Read more
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