Over at Aquinas and More they’re sponsoring the Catholic Summer Reading discussion, and I am really pleased to see several books I have liked and recommended up on the list of recommended adult reading. You can vote for adult and teen titles you recommend. Happily, the list includes Sigrid Undset’s Stages on the Road, about which I cannot say enough good things, and also Amy Welborn’s Wish You Were Here: Travels Through Loss and Hope and Hallie Lord’s Style, Sex... Read more
Over at the USCCB Media Blog Sister Mary Ann Walsh pens a nice review of Mark Shriver’s A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver Writes Sister: Two moments stand out in the book for me. One was mention of the Choice Program, an effort Mark Shriver started with small government and foundation grants for youthful offenders moving into the work force. As he struggled to keep Choice afloat, he met a priest who offered help from the Catholic Campaign... Read more
You guys remember Leah Libresco, right? The favorite Philosopher Atheist of many of us, here in the Catholic portal? The adorable, ubersmart Yalie grad whom I introduced a while back, as “a smart young cookie and a life-long atheist” and whose blog began as a geeky atheist picking fights with her Catholic boyfriend? Yeah, her, the girl whose banner has been flying at the atheist’s corner: Well, today she makes an announcement that will startle many: I tried to keep... Read more
I heard the sound of E.J. Dionne screaming and ran to the headlines to see what had happened! Sharpening an election-year confrontation over religious freedom and government health insurance rules, the nation’s Catholic hospitals on Friday rejected President Barack Obama’s compromise for providing birth control coverage to their women employees. The Catholic Health Association was a key ally in Obama’s health care overhaul, defying opposition from church bishops to help the president win approval in Congress. But the group said... Read more
So, our friends the Dominican Nuns of Summit, NJ have welcomed a new postulant to their cloisters, a former youth minister who needed to settle quite a bit of debt in order to enter. As she chronicled her journey at her blog, it was fascinating to watch how — as her entrance date approached — things just fell into place, with large donations seeming to come out of nowhere; suddenly, her impediments were gone. If God wants something to happen,... Read more
Joseph Susanka touches on the issue of idolatry through a cinematic reference: In The Fallen Idol, Phillipe is more than simply fascinated by and drawn to Baines; he is transformed by him. The servant’s innocuous tall tales, harmlessly rooted in his desire for affection and attention, prove to be his undoing when Phillipe, so thoroughly steeped in the romantic persona his friend has created, is no longer capable of recognizing Baines’ true (and innocent) character. The young boy’s good-hearted lies... Read more
On Facebook, Diane of Te-Deum blog embedded this interview between Christiane Amanpour and Sister Joan Chittister, OSB, whom Amanpour calls “a practicing nun.” Because she’s a class-A journalist, is the haughty Christiane. She’s like the Anna Wintour of elite broadcasters, but even less interesting. Full disclosure: as a Benedictine Oblate, I’ve read and gleaned much wisdom from Sister Joan’s books on Monasticism; she has a lot of good and instructive things to say about the psalms and the Holy Rule.... Read more
Every once in a while, I get an email from someone asking, “WHEN are you going to get some Orthodox blogging going?” Well…finally, we begin with “Emerging into Orthodoxy!” Blogger Drew Tatusko writes: I was baptized Catholic. I went to seminary to become a Presbyterian pastor. On June 3, 2012 I became Eastern Orthodox. This blog is about my journey and practice of this new way of life with God and a new community. Join me in the journey! Tatusko... Read more
I haven’t read The Bible Tells Me So, yet; I never even heard about it until this week. But I love it, because Lisa Mladinich has written so entertainingly about it, and about the fellow behind it! It’s the beginning of the catechetical year on a warm Wednesday evening in September, and a noisy crowd of raw recruits has just shuffled in and slumped into chairs, worn out from a long day at school. Before they can droop any further,... Read more
G. K. Chesterton’s assessment of fundamental liberty: “The free man owns himself. He can damage himself with either eating or drinking; he can ruin himself with gambling. If he does he is certainly a damn fool, and he might possibly be a damned soul; but if he may not, he is not a free man any more than a dog.” – Broadcast talk 6-11-35 Nanny Bloomberg is now going after popcorn and milk products, because he’s very enlightened, as is... Read more
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