Limbo by Sister Mary Ada The ancient greyness shifted Suddenly and thinned Like mist upon the moors Before a wind. An old, old prophet lifted A shining face and said: “He will be coming soon. The Son of God is dead; He died this afternoon.” A murmurous excitement stirred All souls. They wondered if they dreamed – Save one old man who seemed Not even to have heard. And Moses, standing, Hushed them all to ask If any had a... Read more
We are meant to feel that his life was in that sense a sort of love affair with death, a romance of the pursuit of the ultimate sacrifice. From the moment when the star goes up like a birthday rocket, to the moment when the sun is extinguished like a funeral torch, the whole story moves on wings with the speed and direction of a drama, ending in an act beyond words. Therefore the story of Christ is the story... Read more
Holy Thursday: ‘Twas on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean BY WILLIAM BLAKE Twas on a Holy Thursday their innocent faces clean, The children walking two & two in red & blue & green. Grey-headed beadles walk’d before with wands as white as snow, Till into the high dome of Paul’s they like Thames waters flow. O what a multitude they seem’d these flowers of London town. Seated in companies they sit with radiance all their own. The hum... Read more
… a Clerk of Oxford It was upon a Sheer Thursday* that our Lord arose, Full mild were the words he spake to Judas: “Judas, thou must to Jerusalem our meat for to bugge*; Thirty plate of silver thou bear upon thy rugge*. When thou comest far in the broad street, far in the broad street, Some of thine kinsmen there thou mayst meet.” He met with his sister, the swikele* woman: “Judas, thou were worthy be stoned with stone;... Read more
Please forgive me if the capitalization in this post is hinky. My keyboard is on the fritz and awaiting repair. Regarding the CRISIS piece on Francis’ alleged socialist agenda, I find it hard to buy for a couple of reasons. First of all, it assumes as a matter of course that anything socialist is, ipso facto, absolutely incompatible with the faith. This, according to no less an authority than Benedict XVI, is not true. Here is his discussion of socialism... Read more
Jesus’ other “name” is not a name at all but a title. “Christ” means “Anointed One” and is the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Mashiach” or “Messiah.” In the Old Testament, anointing was done to kings (1 Samuel 16:13), priests (Exodus 28:41), and prophets (1 Chronicles 16:22) to signify that the power and authority of God rested upon them in their mission. In particular, Jewish tradition focused on the extraordinary figure of King David who occupied all three roles. So,... Read more
One of the things that Native American cultures have done for postmoderns is make a return to Catholic ways of seeing the integral nature of creation. For five hundred years, that project of the postmodern West has been to divorce the spiritual from the material and desacramentalize creation with the notion that it is ‘just’ matter and energy. Since so much of this springs from a reaction to Catholic sacramentality, appeals to Catholic authority which have always denied this divorce... Read more
On this last Friday in Lent before Good Friday, here are the last of the fasting and penitential ideas from Deacon Nick Senger along with the commentary of an ordinary lay slobovian penitent known as Yr Obdt. Svt. Become a lector. This would require schedule adjustments that would wind up being a penance for my family, not me. Volunteer to become an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. Same. Volunteer to help with the parish youth group. Not addressed to my... Read more
He writes: I have a few questions and thought you might be able to point me in the right direction. I teach a PSR class for 7th grade. We were discussing Mary as the new Eve and it stirred up some thoughts/question on the subject. In pondering Mary as the new Eve, it seemed like denying this claim (which several of my family members do as they have left the church) would somehow imply that it didn’t matter if Eve... Read more
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your merciful love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,... Read more
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