I thought your Legion of Doom would be interested in some free giveaways I’m doing over at The Thin Veil. Every Friday, I’ll be giving away solid Catholic resources–shipped to the winner’s door, no strings attached–with the initial offering being a brand-new, hardcover copy of Pope Benedict XVI’s “Jesus of Nazareth”. Thanks! Check thou it out! Read more

…explains how to be a free man. I think the most sensible thing I have ever heard on the subject of racism is simply this, “Only racists care about somebody’s race.” Read more

In which we discover the paradox that the Catholic faith is utterly unique — because it is so much like so many other religious and philosophical traditions. Read more

Marcel LeJeune caught a screening of There be Dragons, about the life of Opus Dei Founder, St. Josemaria Escriva (particular centering on the Spanish Civil War). I hadn’t heard of the film, but it sounds like it’s worth seeing. Read more

“What’s wrong with Israel?? Can you believe this?” In answer to your second question first: Yes, I can believe that. And the reason I can is (in answer to your first question second): Israel is not a divinely ordained country that is somehow magically guaranteed to embody fidelity to the law of Moses. It is a secular nation-state like America, Sweden, Canada, the UK or Australia embracing standard post-Judeo/Christian morals (such as they are). The notion that Israel (the nation-state,... Read more

This piece is a sort of quasi-sociological look at the phenom, but at the end it basically gives away the secret of why otherwise sane people would do this crazy thing: Ultimately, [Thomas] Howard concluded that the question that matters most is “What is the Church?” His answer, like that of Hahn, Grodi and Talbot, and now of Croslow, Dunn, and White, is that the “one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic church”—the historical, traditional Church—can only be the Roman Catholic Church.... Read more

A reader writes: I was reading this article today: …and it prompted a question I hope you might be able to answer. Would it be morally licit in this situation for a Catholic couple to adopt an embryo and undergo IVF to prevent them from being destroyed or used in medical research? Because as the article states, there are five options here for these embryos: 1. The couple to whom they belong can implant all of them over time and... Read more

of the Cacophonous World of Professor Whimsey sends along his sparkling new “Pater Noster for Kids” video, which graduate level media classes will be analyzing for generations to come: Another spectacular triumph for St. Blog’s Resident Demented Genius. Read more

A reader writes: I hope you are feeling better! Please let your readers know about this volunteer opportunity: DMOZ.org is one of those old-school sites from the early days of the internet.At first sight you’d think it’s not very useful and abandoned. You’d be wrong. It is mirrored by sites like Ask.com, AOL and Google so its influence is significant. Search Engine Optimizers know this and spam it like crazy. Because of this, it takes forever to get a link... Read more

I was so glad to read that you’ll be in our neck of the woods–Valley Forge, PA in August. I hope to get to finally meet you! I’ve been reading your postings regarding music in the liturgy. I thought I’d include (at the end) some seasonal liturgical music docs I’ve prepared for my choir and cantors at the parish where I’m Music Director here in Southern New Jersey to, hopefully, show ‘the other side of the story’. I’m a classically... Read more