Certain anti-Catholic Protestants like to claim that the Catholic Church is the “Whore of Babylon,” from chapters 17 and 18 of the book of Revelation. Outrageous as it is to think this, there may be some substance to the claim if we substitute the Apocalypse of John with Jay-Z’s perverse and misogynistic song, Big Pimpin’. The American Catholic Church is certainly not the Whore of Babylon, but, on the American scene, many of her members have become whores to another... Read more
I’ve always considered the story of Martha and Mary as being about the two paths of spiritual life: the via activa and the via comtemplativa. Depending on my mood and spiritual fancy, the story either comforted or bothered me. Oftentimes both. Today was different: Father’s homily was about anxiety. Martha’s problem was not her activity; it was anxiety that Jesus was correcting. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.” This interpretation rings true to me. Anxiety. I’m the sort of... Read more
On another side of this holiday, we find another lesson: a lesson about whiteness. Columbus Day is often treated, on both sides, as the day that so-called white people discovered/conquered (see my previous post) non-whites. This is mistaken: in 1492 “white people” hadn’t been invented yet. The invention of Whiteness didn’t happen for several hundred years later. In the British colonies and Whiggish United States, Columbus — and all of Spanish and Italian culture — would never qualify as white.... Read more
The two Spanish words that summarize the predominant reading and counter-reading of Columbus Day are descubrimiento and conquista. Descubrimiento refers to that the word ‘discovery’ points to in English. It emphasizes the subjective experience of Columbus, Spain, and, by extension, Western Europe. Colonialism. When this subjective experience is glorified and placed into a colonial mythology, it becomes Columbus Day as we know it. Conquista refers to what the English word ‘conquest’ gets at. It emphasizes the political implications of the “discovery”... Read more
Dearest Church, The Year of Faith is almost right on top of us. Don’t you just love these goofy “years” we celebrate and observe together, on the somewhat arbitrary declarations of our popes? I sure do. There is nothing more serious than doing something arbitrarily, which begins to unlock the mad, Augustinian genius of faith: we know because we believe, not the other way around. In the days and months to come, expect lots from me on this Year of Faith... Read more
The huffing “h” sound in the Spanish word ‘hola‘ is silent, as a general rule. Except when it follows and combines with the letter c, creating the fourth letter of the Spanish alphabet: ch. Ch makes the sound of chocolate, nachos, and chocolate nachos. RoCHa. Cha. Not ca. The h isn’t silent in my last name. Back to ‘hola‘: the silent h makes it sound exactly like the word ‘ola‘ — wave. In English, a “wave” can be a sign,... Read more
Foundations of Educational Thought — sixth meeting (more…) Read more
My dear friend, Brad, has a beautiful greyhound dog named Remus. Remus was just diagnosed with cancer. I wrote the following poem for him: (more…) Read more
I am very happy and honored to announce the “change” I’ve been hinting about: I will soon be joining the Catholic Portal at Patheos. This photo will be the page header, custom designed by Mike Blaha, my longtime friend and an exceptional, multitalented artist. Check out his work at Blahagraphy. Read more
Pumpkin patch. (Taken with Instagram) Read more
Sam Rocha
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