Fr. Z has stooped to a new low. He is selling cheap, bland, and ugly merchandise, generically built for quick and cheap profits, that does more than to merely invert or make light of paragraph 94 of Pope Francis’ recent exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. Fr. Z goes further, by identifying himself, proudly, to be the very thing that the Pope decries when he wrote: 94. This worldliness can be fuelled in two deeply interrelated ways. One is the attraction of gnosticism, a... Read more
El mensaje de Tepeyac nos recuerda hoy del abrazo materno de una Madre mestiza, la Virgen morena, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: la Madre de las Americas quien se manifiesta en forma milagrosa para relevar a su Hijo a un continente lleno de angustias y fracasos—pero también de alegría y gozo. Celebrar hoy la aparición en esa mañana tan hermosa es también reconocer que las Américas todavía sufren de una falta de reconocer y entender al mensaje Guadalupano comunicado en... Read more
Steve Perkins is the 2014 teacher of the year for the state of Indiana. This accolade is most impressive to me because he teaches Latin. The very concept that a classicist can be honored in the present regime of schooling is a surprise and a sign of hope and promise. He came across my book, A Primer for Philosophy and Education, at First Things, in Stephen Webb’s theological review, and has begun writing a series about it at his blog. Like... Read more
This is an edited version of a short story I originally wrote for a “Philosophy of the Human Person” course I taught at Wabash College in the fall of 2010. Another version was published in my first book of essays, Things and Stuff, and I’ve been tweaking it, in hopes of expanding and having it illustrated by my talented sister, who did the artwork for my Primer. Hopefully it offers some weekend respite from the brewing politics and popery flying around... Read more
There is a rumor going around about Pope Francis in the United States, after the promulgation of his exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (EG). Apparently he is a Marxist, or something like that. Rush Limbaugh seems to have been the first one to say it, or at least the loudest one, calling EG “pure Marxism.” Add to that the recent bone-headed column at Fox News, comparing Francis to Obama, and I think you can see a pattern. If you can’t, then there... Read more
Liturgy is mystogogical. In other words, one role of liturgy is to teach and form the faithful, to catechize us both in and out of formal liturgical events. If our home is a “domestic church,” then it should look, sound, and feel like a church, especially if we live with children. Why? Because churches are decorated and arranged for more than ornamental purposes. The pictures, colors, structure, style, and order of a church are all deeply catechetical. The images teach... Read more
It is very annoying for this to be the first thing I say about Pope Francis’ rich and inspiring apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, but this post at Catholic Culture demands it. The post asserts that there is a “key error in translation” in the English version, although the author himself relies on Google translate — hardly an authoritative source for translations. The author also tips his hand when he parenthetically questions why these errors “always seem to tilt in the... Read more
Stephen Webb’s column at First Things today — titled “Sam Rocha’s Strange and Startling Philosophy of Education” — gives a generous (and even foreboding) theological review of my book, A Primer for Philosophy and Education. Webb writes: A Primer for Philosophy and Education, his brief introduction to the philosophy of education, is proof that educational heresy is what you get when you begin with theological orthodoxy. (Theology is a science, and education an art, but most educators get that exactly reversed... Read more
Joseph Bottum puts it plainly, here at Patheos: “Forget the culture-wars crap.” He’s right, and his urgent, huffy tone is appropriate. I wrote something similar, almost a year ago, and since then I’ve had countless conversations with likeminded Catholics who are doing the creative work it takes to move beyond the culture wars. One such Catholic is Brian Doyle. His recent book of essays is a pleasure to read most of all because it is refreshing to read the words... Read more
The history of compulsory schooling in the United States resembles the political history of Latin America, only its successes are fewer and shorter-lived. It is replete with failure, reform, reform of the reform, and more failed reform. From the Common School Movement in the 1830’s, founded by Horace Mann, to the Common Core of today, there are identical language and themes along with unrealized and misguided aspirations throughout. If you look at the reforms stretching from National Defense Act of 1957 and... Read more
Sam Rocha
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