Patrick Madrid tells the story of being invited to publicly debate a very anti-Catholic Protestant on the subject of images in worship. Patrick won the flip and was first up to bat. He began by saying, “My opponent will try to tell you that the Catholic use of images in worship is at worst, idolatry, and at least, meaningless.” He then pulled a large, beautiful crucifix from beneath the podium. “This is a crucifix. Through this image we Catholics follow... Read more

Fr Z. has a great post with two show stopping videos. It’s all about the extremes you can fall into when you disembark from the Barque of Peter. One is a video that has been making the rounds of an extreme left wing Catholic group celebrating Mass with oversized puppets and old ladies doing liturgical dance. The other is of an anti-pope in Spain experiencing a vision of Jesus. He (and his minions) are dressed in the most over the... Read more

There is some low level fuss about the incorruptible (or not) state of the remains of Pope John XXIII and St Padre Pio. Roving Medievalist links to the undertaker who was called in to preserve the remains of both Bl. John XXII and St.Pio–pointing out that both of them are now embalmed, so the question of their remains being incorruptible is moot. Those looking for a miracle will claim that the remains of Bl. John XXII were ‘remarkably preserved’ when... Read more

A Student’s Plea No, no, Father, please don’t toss the mikelike a DJ when you preach. Please don’t be cool.Please don’t ride a Harley motorbikewhen you come to school. Don’t wear red cowboy boots for Pentecost,and tell dumb jokes to be our pal. Please don’t ‘high five’,say, “Sweet!” “Awwsome!” “You suck!” “You’re toast!”or teach us how to jive. Don’t sing along to the latest pop band;you don’t need to be hip and up to date,or come to our parties with... Read more

I have a confession: while driving around Greenville, South Carolina, I enjoy listening to our local gospel station. Now this is not your up to date, synthesized, plastic gospel music. I’m talking about the good ole fashioned gospel quartets, with a bass who growls like an old dog and a screaming high tenor. I’m talking about the sweet a capella gospel singers who wail and whine and have a passion for Jeezus. And the preachers! They all have a voice... Read more

On Saturday I had the luck to visit Aiken, South Carolina to lead a day seminar on the foundations of liturgy for the people and servers of the parish of Our Lady. One of our new priests, Fr Jeff Kirby is the parochial vicar there, assisting Fr LeBlanc. It was great to be given such a warm welcome by two of our best priests in the diocese. There was an excellent turnout. My first talk was a Bible study on... Read more

Six high school boys stayed after Thursday’s daily Mass at St Joseph’s Catholic School: “Father, why didn’t you celebrate Mass facing East today?” “I’m doing so on two days of the week, and on the other two the usual way. Do you like the Mass when I celebrate facing East?” “Yes.” “Why?” “It feels more holy. It’s older right? But you’re not really facing East here.” “There’s something called ‘liturgical East.’ It’s when the priest faces what used to be... Read more

In his introduction to Mere Christianity C.S.Lewis says that once you decide to become a Christian it is like coming into the hall of a great house, and off the hall there are lots of side rooms. If becoming a Christian is coming into the great hall, choosing a denomination is deciding which room you want to lodge in. Now I am a great fan of C.S.Lewis, and I can count on one hand the times I have ever disagreed with... Read more

Spiritual Hero is the name of a new project I’ve got going. When I lived in England, before being moving back to the USA to be ordained as a Catholic priest, I ran a training company called Working Hero. The concept of Working Hero was that the hero’s quest, which makes up the plotline for all the world’s great stories, is also the plot line for successful business transformation, career development and personal growth. This soon became Ordinary Hero another program that... Read more

I will be in Aiken, South Carolina on Saturday leading a day workshop and lecture on worship. The first session is The Meaning of Sacrifice,  the second, The Meaning of Mystery. Then a workshop session, How Shall We then Worship? It seems to me that within American Catholicism one of the things we need most to counter attack is an underlying performance culture. Everything in modern America seems to condition people to expect a performance. Whether it is the canned performance... Read more