My latest blog post at National Catholic Register is here Exorcism movies are popular, but when you see one what is your reaction? Will you respond with superstition or supernaturalism? Superstition is any sort of belief or behavior which is magical. A magical understanding of religion is primitive, immature and dangerous. It involves sympathetic magic or an irrational link between certain behaviors and their outcomes. It means, in some way, we are trying to manipulate things to produce an outcome... Read more

My homilies from Our Lady of the Rosary are now being recorded and are accessible on the website here. Here is my homily for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time. It outlines the different levels of meaning packed into John’s account of the wedding at Cana in Galilee. There is a theological, ecclesiological and liturgical meaning. There is a lot packed into this gospel reading and a lot packed into my homily. I hope you enjoy listening to it and... Read more

The recent furore in the Anglican Communion has highlighted yet again the real division in world Christianity. I have analyzed it here. The division is between Christian who, for want of a better term might be called “historic” Christians and those who are “progressive” Christians. The historic Christians believe their religion is revealed by God in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, and that the Scriptures are the primary witness of that revelation. They believe the church is the... Read more

Lent is early this year. Ash Wednesday is Feb 10. Do you have a good book for Lent? Do your teenagers or college students? I have written The Gargoyle Code and Slubgrip Instructs to be especially good reads. They have a plot line running through them and are broken down into daily readings for Lent. You can get both books for a special offer of $24.95 here. In Slubgrip Instructs the demon Slubgrip has been demoted to teach Popular Culture 101 at Bowelbages University. Here’s... Read more

The Anglican Church is once again in turmoil, this time over the suspension of the Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion for a period of three years. Observers of the Anglican scene will feel that the Church of England and her worldwide confederation are engaged in one constant battle after another. Those who are familiar with Anglican history will agree that the battles have been pretty much relentless from the foundation of the Anglican Church in the sixteenth century. “Why... Read more

OK. Right up front in case anyone is getting all nervous about a priest commenting on politics: This is not an endorsement of Ted Cruz. Stop biting your fingernails. I’m not telling you to vote Republican. I’m not saying Ted Cruz is a great guy or would be a great president. However, I am commenting as an American citizen on what is one of the most interesting presidential elections in living history. It interests me because Ted Cruz is one... Read more

  My article for Imaginative Conservative this week challenges the idea that the Reformation was “a good thing.” A Catholic friend of mine is fond of referring to the Protestant Reformation as “the Deformation.” Well, perhaps. Certainly the Reformation in England was a deformation. Henry VII’s stripping of the altars was not only a monumental act of iconoclastic vandalism, but the cultural revolution brought about by his break with Rome—which included the dissolution of the monasteries and his daughter Elizabeth’s reign... Read more

UPDATE: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church has stated that they have no intention of reversing their decision to endorse same sex marriage. The AP reports, In a phone interview from England, where he attended the gathering of top Anglican archbishops, Curry said he told his fellow leaders they should expect no change. The top Episcopal legislative body, called General Convention, last year voted overwhelmingly to authorize same-sex marriage ceremonies in church. Furthermore, Curry said he thought it... Read more

The progressive Episcopal Church of the USA has been suspended from the Worldwide Anglican Communion for three years because of their formal endorsement of same sex marriage. The point of the suspension is to encourage the Episcopalians to reconsider their decision and return to the moral values of historical Christianity and the Biblical principles of Christian marriage. The chances that this will happen are remote. Instead the progressive Episcopalians will react in these predictable ways. 1. Sentimentalism – Their response will not be with... Read more

Did you think that perhaps the Episcopalians would respond with humility and repentance in the wake of their suspension from the Anglican Communion? Of course not. They have responded openly and bluntly with pride. We could have predicted this. In response to the suspension of the Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion, immediately the Episcopalians play the victim card. Go here to read The Rev Susan Russell’s predictable response.  I’ll respond to the question I got from the reporter who... Read more