One of the greatest nights of my life was spent alone. My husband and sons were off camping with the Boy Scouts and I took myself to Montauk, and found a small beachfront and parked myself on a blanket under the sky. I simply watched the constellations roll by, and all the shooting stars falling. Such depths of sparkling beauty. Such a night of wonder. Electric light is wonderful — it’s near-miraculous — but we give up an awful lot... Read more
The nicest part of my job is that I get a ton of books to read and review. Unfortunately I can’t always find time to really give a book a good going-over, but when Paul Badde’s The True Icon: From the Shroud of Turin to the Veil of Manoppello arrived in my mailbox, I did my usual thumb-through and found myself utterly hooked. This lavishly illustrated volume chronicles a very personal journey for Badde — a tracing of the history... Read more
It’s no secret I am an unabashed fan of Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev and of his writings and his music, which I’ve linked to several times over the years. Joseph Susanka — who is a pretty busy guy, what with six kids, a job and his weekly column here at Patheos — managed to snag an interview with the bishop, and treats us to a fascinating exchange on music, liturgy and Christian Unity. Here is a little bit: . . .today... Read more
When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him. — Sirach 15:14-17 Read in conjunction with this, and in light of all of my pathetic failings of which I... Read more
A family member just returned from Southern Bavaria where, while moseying about doing a little site-seeing, he found Saint Oswald’s church, an important parish in the life of Joseph Ratzinger, and just outside the church, this: My Photo, taken in Bavaria, 2012 My dear Papa! And my new wallpaper! Read more
Well, Day 1 of Lent was pretty rich. Got to lector at Mass for one of my favorite readings and psalms, which was neat. Got to spend more time at a doctor’s office than I wanted to for something so minor, but that was good, as it gave me a chance to finish Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World, (free on Kindle, kids!) and I think I needed the downtime. The quiet allowed a deeper submersion into Lent, but... Read more
Father Barron on Lent. Touches on some of the discussions going on in the comboxes. Read more
I couldn’t believe the headline so I had to see it for myself and yeah, Chris Matthews actually said this: “There are a number of people who have chosen to convert to the Catholic faith because they don”t like the liberal positions taken by their sectarian groups,” said Matthews, “that’s a fact, you can write that down. . . .I’m saying that some people who are bigoted against gay people have changed religions, yes.” This is a guy who profoundly... Read more
I do believe Brandon Vogt may be one of the busiest, most focused young men-with-a-mission I’ve ever seen. Brandon is the author of the very well-received and widely read The Church and New Media, and a journalist who, like our Pat Gohn and Tony Rossi, has a knack for conducting great interviews (I do believe he knows every Catholic currently online!). He blogs at The Thin Veil and — along with partners Matthew Warner and Josh Simmons — he has... Read more
My First Things column from today: Through its mouthpieces, the administration has already begun to argue that “an institution does not have a conscience.” This is utter nonsense. The missions of the church are predicated on conscience, and conscience and mission feed and build upon one another. Conscience is what sent Catholic religious women to drag Civil War soldiers off the battlefields and into their hospitals, regardless of uniform; it is what put Catholic charities and hospitals and schools in... Read more
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