On Friday we travelled to Columbia, SC for the ordination of six men to the priesthood to serve for the Diocese of Charleston. Fr. Michael Cassabon is a young man in his twenties who has trained at the North American College in Rome. Michael is a graduate of St Joseph’s Catholic School. He is our first graduate to be ordained as a priest. He is also a graduate of St Mary’s School, and a member of St Mary’s, Greenville. It... Read more

This is a wedding dress made from condoms. All part of a Chinese fashion show to promote the rubber doo dads. Quite apart from China’s one child policy, forced abortions and sterilizations, isn’t a wedding dress made out of condoms the most amazing contradiction in terms? A wedding after all, is about starting a family, and that means having babies. Remember G.K.Chesterton’s quip: “Birth control means no control and no birth.” Read more

My brother converted to the Catholic faith a few years ago, and one of his in laws from Philadelphia tried to dissuade him. A solid Archie Bunker type, he said, “Lemme tellya about dem Catlicks. I grew up wid dem in Philly. Ya know dey all eat fish on Fridays right? Well lemme tellya why. Its because all the fish market guys in Philly are Italians, and the Italian pope makes this rule dat you gotta eat fish on Friday... Read more

Ruth Gledhill’s report on the Catholic Church’s recent statement on ecumenism certainly fanned the flames of anti-Catholicism amongst her readers. Does the statement signal the end of ecumenism as we knew it? I think the old fashioned 60s-70s ecumenism has been a dead duck for a long time, and it’s not Rome’s fault. What has happened, for instance, to the World Council of Churches? Is there anything left of it other than a gaggle of ageing left wing Protestants? The... Read more

Catholics are sometimes charged with lack of zeal for evangelism. Our Protestant Evangelical brothers sometimes say that our reliance on the sacramental system of the Church leads us to assume that a person is ‘saved’ and leads us to neglect their need for conversion. This is an understandable reaction from those who begin with Evangelical Protestant assumptions. For the Evangelical Protestant conversion is a once and done experience. For the Catholic conversion is a way of life. Within the Catholic... Read more

Conversion of Life is the wild-eyed and grace filled, unpredictable part of the spiritual way. Conversion of life means ‘change of life’ and real change entails risk, uncertainty and the adventure of going into the unknown. In the spiritual life it means accepting the work of the Holy Spirit–who may be doing things his way not our way. It means being open to the new and unfamiliar aspects of the faith, and being alert to all the wonderful ways that... Read more

My fourth of July post has stirred up the political side of people. When it comes to politics, I confess to an almost total lack of interest. This dis-interest has been with me as long as I can remember, and I suppose it has its roots in my Mennonite ancestry. Perhaps I should care more about politics and forms of government, but I don’t. The reason I don’t is because I think politics and politicians are only secondary concerns. What... Read more

I have been skimming through the work of Donna Schaper–the UCC/Baptist pastor in New York City who has admitted publicly to an abortion and that she considers what she did to be murder. Here’s Donna Schaper preaching at a Good Friday Service. This was a joint service between some of her flock and members of a local synagogue. Rev Schaper says: Christians see the message of Jesus in his life, not his death. We know Jesus as a preacher of... Read more

After the vows of stability and obedience is the third vow of Conversion of Life. This is the part where the spiritual life gets some kick and zing. Obedience and stability seem dull and pedestrian, but conversion of life is what it is all about. Conversion of life is not just that a person seeks to be converted the way an Evangelical ‘gets saved.’ Its certainly a good thing to repent and accept Christ’s saving work, but for the Catholic... Read more

  My very British wife is somewhat amused by Americans’ patriotism. “Why all this worship of a flag for goodness sake?” She’s not particularly impressed with George Bush, Amerian military adventures abroad, nor with certain characteristics of American culture: consumerism, obsession with image, right wing jingo-ism etc. She jokes that the British celebrate Fourth of July too: “That’s when we were lucky enough to get rid of you lot.” I point out that patriotism can be a bit silly in... Read more