It was a miserably hot day. The heat was augmented by oceans of humidity until it felt like the air would boil, but not a drop of rain fell to soothe the ground. I spent the afternoon by the air conditioner, nibbling string cheese and wishing I was a more ambitious cook. At about eight in the evening, though, the nauseating pall of heat lifted. We went outside to play. Everyone was outside: all the neighborhood parents on their porches, and... Read more
Good Thing: There was going to be a little street fair downtown. Nothing ever happens in this town, so it sounded like a wonderful treat. Bad Thing: It was today, Saturday, when there’s only one bus and it’s on a very strange, limited schedule. I decided to walk my daughter Rose downtown with me. Good Thing: We took the lovely, scenic shortcut, a set of concrete steps right down the weird cliff at the end of my neighborhood. It was... Read more
This is Bill.  (courtesy of Pixabay)  What words would you use to describe Bill? Dashing, perhaps? Handsome? Preppy? Skinny? A stick figure? Fair enough. I bet I can think of a word you didn’t use to describe Bill. I bet nobody said “shorter.” I’m pretty sure nobody said “taller” either. Ah, but what if I told you Bill has three brothers? (Also courtesy of Pixabay. Bill is second from the left.) That’s right. Bill is shorter than George, Frank and... Read more
Saint Thomas Aquinas, God love his soul, would never have disparaged a heap of straw if he’d known its value. Just a week ago my garden was in dire need of straw. I use it for mulching, filling in all the spots between plants so the weeds can’t pop up, for keeping the soil moist and for returning nutrients. I also use straw to grow potatoes. Potatoes demand to be tortured; you must dump coffee grounds over them so the soil... Read more
Several years ago now, I got to be a fly on the wall for a nice stuffy ad-orientem-only priest schooling a bunch of Charismatic youth. Lord knows I’ve suffered at the hands of Charismatics, so I enjoyed the show a bit too much. “I am gonna blow your mind,” the stuffy priest was saying. “There’s no such thing as a Charismatic rite of the Catholic Church. There’s no such thing as a Charismatic Mass.” He went on in that theme until... Read more
(This review is a contribution to the June edition of the Patheos Book Club.) When I first started reading Rodney Stark’s new book, Bearing False Witness: De-bunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History I expected I would end up writing a fairly positive review with some mild criticisms and a few statements about what this sort of anti-expose can and can’t accomplish. I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself not merely appreciating, but positively enjoying the first few chapters. It was... Read more
War is hell.  War is never a good thing. A person may comport himself honorably in a war; he may even behave heroically. And that person, through his determination and his deeds, will become and honorable person or a hero. But war is not honorable or heroic. It’s been this way from the beginning. The angels didn’t wage war in Heaven because God likes war. They did it because Lucifer rebelled and became the Accuser. Michael became the prince of the... Read more
I’ve only been to Florida twice, to my grandparents’ winter house, the modest little ranch house they bought in the 50’s. The first time we went I was a toddler, younger than my daughter is now, but I do remember bits of the trip. I remember standing on the beach with my farther, staring out at the horizon as the sun set in glorious violet and orange. I asked him, “On the other side of the water, is there more beach?”... Read more
(In loving memory of Charles Spencer) Blessed are you, Lord our God, who brings forth food from the earth. Blessed are You, that when Adam cursed the soil with his disobedience, You hid within the earth a countless multitude of consolations, and we who grow food from the earth still find them. I thank you that the sweat of my brow has not blinded me to many of Your mercies. I pray that, for the sake of Your name, You reveal to me the... Read more
I’m going to be brutally honest again, just as I was the other day. I insist on being honest about an issue that effects 25% of all women and 10% of all men. It’s rapists that should be hiding in darkness and shame, not the survivors. So I’m gonna be blunt. Bluntly, the title I gave to this piece is hypocritical. I probably will pray against Brock Turner. I’ve done plenty of praying against rapists; the pain of a flashback comes over me... Read more
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