Watching the horrendous pictures that came out of Norway, and looking at the daily headlines full of looming chaos, stagnated employment, frustration, divided government, economic uncertainty (is the “debt-ceiling crisis” a true “crisis” or extended misdirection?) and more, it’s easy to think that evil is gaining on us — that it is winning. In her column, A Word in Season, Pat Gohn looks at this season of trepidation and uncertainty and her word is this: do not fall prey to... Read more
“At the present time, more than in any previous age, we find Catholics turning into unbelievers . . . Catholicism seen from the inside seems to be losing, but seen from the outside, to be gaining. There is a reason for this. Our contemporaries are naturally little disposed to belief, but once they accept religion at all, there is a hidden instinct within them which unconsciously urges them toward Catholicism. Many of the doctrines and customs of the Roman Church... Read more
Found this recipe in a magazine that I never subscribed to but somehow landed in my mailbox, and made it last night to family raves. It was really, really fast, really easy and really good! I’m only sorry I didn’t take a pic to show you, but shredded coconut is pretty enough! 3 Tbsp. butter, melted 1 c flaked coconut, unsweetened if you can get it, but sweetened will do 2 tsp. curry powder (I used more because we like... Read more
Today, a new column debuts in the Catholic Portal with award-winning writer Kathy Coffey’s Catholic Being — and nothing could be better-timed, I think, than her excellent exposition on how the pathway to prayer can be accessed by stress: If we think of prayer as long, uninterrupted stretches in a quiet church or retreat house, we might get more stressed out worrying that we’ll never achieve that. Instead, we might want to think of prayer in terms of the different... Read more
Now that I have your attention, please direct it thither: The modern form of the Catharsis Hypothesis is a kind of utopianism: “ah, wouldn’t it be great if people could have sex without hangups or consequences? How happy we would be! Boo for Christians who hate sex!” The roots of this fictional world are ancient, but an early modern example is that of the artist Paul Gauguin, a bored stockbroker who beat his wife and dreamed of escape from the... Read more
I’ve been suspecting it for a while, but I think Dorothy Day’s sentiment sort of makes it very plain. “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” — Dorothy Day I want to love God with all my heart and all my being. But I can’t stand anyone in politics, right now. And I realize, today — for the millionth time — that it’s not a healthy thing for me, spiritually; my... Read more
We love her book, and we love her blogsite, and we love her columns, but Julie Davis has proven herself to be a very engaging, warm and um, “happy” interview subject, as we saw when she chatted with Pat Gohn, so now we love to listen to Julie being interviewed. Here she is talking to Christopher Close-Up’s Tony Rossi! Give a listen! Julie also manages to mention one of the best books ever written Read more
Whenever I see that picture of Archbishop Charles Chaput I think to myself, “great scott, he looks clean as a whistle!” And then I think, “his face is youthful, yet it has an ages-past quality to it,” one that reminds me of the faces you would see in a reading primer of the mid-twentieth century — it’s almost too seamlessly innocent; you know there is depth beneath that baby face! Max Lindenman has a very balanced and well-wrought column up... Read more
That would be the comments function. Not sure why it is acting up, not allowing longtime commenters to post, throwing randomly into spam and generally misbehaving and causing a lot of angry/hurt/worried emails to come my way. No one is being banned but I will close comments until I figure it out. Sorry for the inconvenience. Read more
I’ve always said his instincts were more inclined toward ruling than leading. This is not the first time he’s suggested that a dictatorship might be preferable to a presidency. But for a guy who campaigned for the job, he sure does complain a lot: “I’m sympathetic to your view that this would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own. It would mean all these conversations I’ve had over the last three weeks, I could have been... Read more
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