Today is Ladyday–the Solemnity of the Annunciation and yes, you can break your Lenten fast to celebrate. You can also celebrate the end of the world and J.R.R.Tolkien reading day. Here’s why: Tolkien, a devout Catholic, wove his Catholicism into The Lord of the Rings in a very profound  and subtle way. If you check out the calendars which mark the main events in the great saga you will find that on December 25 the fellowship leaves Rivendell and on March 25... Read more

Are we really going to be faced with either the Bush dynasty or the Clinton dynasty in next year’s presidential election? What kind of a republic elects members of a dynastic family to rule? A failing republic if I remember my history. I don’t know much Roman history beyond I, Claudius but if I’m not mistaken the Roman Republic was gradually taken over by one patrician, wealthy, sleazy family after another until finally the republic collapsed into an Empire. Do we really... Read more

  My latest article for National Catholic Register comments on Cardinal Kasper’s recent speech in which he says the upcoming synod will be a battle. The German cardinal continues to propose a “pastoral approach” to the thorny issue of communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. While any pastor knows that this problem is difficult to resolve, an increasing number also realize that any pastoral solution which contradicts church teaching simply won’t work. Cardinal Kasper is calling for an approach that... Read more

Splashed across the headlines today is the news that Bob Jones III–Chancellor, former president and grandson of the founder of Bob Jones University, has apologized for some inflammatory remarks about homosexuals thirty five years ago. USAToday carries the story here. Back in 1980 Bob Jones stated that he thought homosexuals should be stoned. Now he apologizes. The Huffington Post carries more on the story here. Jones said, I take personal ownership of this inflammatory rhetoric. This reckless statement was made... Read more

In an article published last Christmas Eric Metaxas points out how our increasing scientific knowledge points increasingly to the existence of God. The existence of the God of the Bible isn’t revealed by scientific lab tests. Instead, Metals points out how we are gaining more and more information about the uniqueness of life on earth, and as we continue to explore this delicate planet’s existence it seems impossible that it all simply happened by random chance. In other words, the... Read more

Just last night I was talking with the sixteen year old about the sci-fi possibility that the machines will take over. Will computers take over? Will the Terminator scenario–the rise of the machines really happen? In this article from the Daily Telegraph Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak suggests just that: “Computers are going to take over from humans, no question,” he said in an interview with the Australian Financial Review. He explained that strong artificial intelligence, which would recreate the power and creativity... Read more

It’s Lent. It’s a penitential season. So off we go to confession to confess our sins. But why is something sinful anyway? Most of us believe things are sinful because someone has told us they are sinful. “Don’t sleep with a girl before marriage.” “Why  not?” “Because it’s sinful.” “Why is it sinful?” “Because the Bible, God’s word says it’s sinful and because the church says its sinful and because the priest says its sinful. It’s sinful. Don’t do it.”... Read more

“Who Am I to Judge?” will probably go down in history as Pope Francis’ most quotable quote. The context of his quip is well known. On the plane back from World Youth Day in Brazil he was asked about the so called “gay lobby” in the church. He replied, “When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I... Read more

Martin O’Malley is the latest Catholic politician to come out as a duplicitous “Catholic.” Deacon Kandra posts an excerpt here from an interview in which O’Malley displays some amazingly twisted thinking to support homosexual marriage–even though he’s a Catholic. As far as I can make out his belief goes like this: “the child of a homosexual couple deserves to grow up in a “proper home” so his gay parents should be allowed to marry.” This argument is on a par with... Read more