In his book Evangelical Catholicism George Weigel says, “There is no future for lukewarm Catholicism.” There is not only no future for lukewarm Catholicism, but there was no past or present for it either. Let’s face it, the gospel is only good news when it is subversive. It’s time for what Weigel calls “Evangelical Catholicism” which might also be called “Radical Radiant Catholicism”. At Our Lady of the Rosary I speak repeatedly of carrying the cross of Christ, and that... Read more
I suppose it is the Mennonite in me, but I have become increasingly disenchanted with the car. Some week soon I want to add up the hours I, and my wife and my children spend in our cars and gather a family meeting and ponder and wonder together what life might be like if we spent the amount of time in our cars at home with one another. The first question on the agenda would be why we are rushing... Read more
I’m re-reading Joseph Pearce’s excellent biography of Chesterton, and am struck at how the same battles we are facing today, Chesterton faced a hundred years ago. The portly prophet wrote on just about every subject under the sun, but one of his passions, and one of the areas in which he was most controversial was the subject of economics and politics. He pointed out that there were two kinds of slavery, the slavery of socialism and the slavery of capitalism.... Read more
Guest blogger, The Rev’d Humphrey Blytherington is Vicar of St Hilda’s, Little Snoring with All Saints, Great Snoring. He is a graduate of Plymouth University. He completed his studies for the ministry at Latimer Hall, Durham. He is married to Daphne and enjoys home brewing, model railroading and is an avid member of the Great Snoring Morris Dancers. A half pint of lager shandy? Thank you Ian, I don’t mind if I do. Very nice. Would you mind awfully... Read more
Being brought up in a Bible believing Protestant home, I had to memorize verses from the King James Version of the Bible. I’m glad I did. Not only did I learn God’s word by heart, but the words were written in my heart. There in there. Down deep. One of the verse I had to learn was, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.” It is a question of priorities, and... Read more
In reading the story of St Paul Miki today I was struck by the detail that he and his companions marched 600 miles from Kyoto to Nagasaki where they were crucified. Along the way they were singing the Te Deum. There is in the story of the martyrs this amazingly supernatural joy. In what other religion is there this strange gift of joy within suffering? It is extraordinary and inexplicable apart from the gift of grace. What we see in... Read more
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed a seemingly profound, but ultimately silly discussion which is prevalent within popular. It’s called the Fermi Paradox and it goes like this: “There are billions of stars out there like the sun. Therefore, statistically there must be billions of planets like earth where intelligent life has developed. Given the vast amount of time and the vast number of possible “other earths” there must be other intelligent life forms who have invented space... Read more
from the combox…Patrick Coffin said that Les Miserables was a ‘three hour ad for the Catholic faith.” I agree about the “greatest three-hour ad for the Catholic faith”. I was going through an agnostic/wanting to re-consider Christianity phase, and seeing Les Mis cinched it for me. I started attending Mass the Sunday after, and have been for the past month since. What I love is how Valjean manages to remember how much grace he has been given, always, and can only... Read more
I once made a solemn promise not to publicly criticize a fellow priest or member of the hierarchy. This is not because I have no criticism, but because I value loyalty and believe there are enough stones being thrown by the enemy that our side needs all the help it can get. However, how can one stand on one side and not express the dismay and disgust of leaders like Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles? This article and others current at... Read more
We went to see Les Miserables with friends yesterday. I’d never seen the show because I’ve rather gone off musicals as shallow, show biz stuff. I used to joke that life was miserable enough… I was won over. There are so many powerful Catholic themes in the show, and the film communicates them very well. There is, of course, the question of justice and mercy. Javert’s self righteousness and legalism countered by the Bishop’s kindness and mercy which inspires Valjean... Read more
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Fr. Dwight Longenecker
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