Batter my heart, three-person’d God ; for you As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ; That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new. I, like an usurp’d town, to another due, Labour to admit you, but O, to no end. Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, But is captived, and proves weak or untrue. Yet dearly I love you, and would... Read more
Pretty awesome! And terrifying. (H/T New Advent) Read more
Photosource, Althouse, taken by Meade. “I NEEN QUALITY TEACHERS.” They need teachers who can instruct them to love the qualifiers that denote the character of a quality – whether it is high-or-low, good-or-bad teachers that they neen and want. But apparently Wisconsin students are being pulled from their necessary classes in order to help teachers protest “whatever this dude [Governor Scott Walker] is doin’. My favorite observation on this story of schools closing so teachers may protest — and offer... Read more
It’s that time of the year again. As Ash Wednesday approaches (it’s later than usual this year, and am I the only one who feels likes she’s missing it and needs it to begin?) I’ll be suggesting books that may enhance the Lenten journey. Foremost in my recommendations will be this book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. It is foremost because the Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, and it is so poorly... Read more
Catechist extraordinaire Lisa Mladinich, whose weekly column “Be an Amazing Catechist” has become a first-stop resource for RCIA facilitators and CCD teachers, has for the last two weeks been focusing on the challenges and rewards of serving the Deaf community of faith. Last week, she looked at the great needs within the church – what they are, and how well we are addressing them: In November 2009, Pope Benedict met with 400 deaf and hearing Catholic clergy and lay people,... Read more
As if he doesn’t have enough to do, Deacon Greg has decided to take on a weekly column, and today we launch him – check out All Things New: In a movie chock full of startling moments, this was one of the most startling of all. Toward the end of The Passion of the Christ, Jesus—bloodied, battered, defiled Jesus, struggling under the weight of his cross as he slouches toward Calvary—this Jesus stumbles, falls, and recovers, and then looks up... Read more
I am just so done with seeing snow everywhere. I have not seen my grass since before Christmas, and I need to see green. I need to see a big expanse of green. Preferably diamond shaped. It’s not that I hate winter. As I wrote here, I love the quiet the snow brings. In the cities, four inches of snow can effectively sound-proof the hoof-and-horn bustle, at least until the plows come. In the suburbs it is more than sound-proofing.... Read more
Medical science is a wonderful thing, but it is not the only thing. And doctors understand many, many things, but not everything. Which is why we should not be too quick to give up on people. Chase was also born prematurely, and he was legally blind. When he was 1 year old, doctors did an MRI, expecting to find he had a mild case of cerebral palsy. Instead, they discovered he was completely missing his cerebellum — the part of... Read more
My Tuesday column is up over at First Things. It occurred to me that one must stretch out in order to sow seeds of change, but eventually the stretch becomes an overreach that ends up perverting and weakening a movement, whether it’s feminism, labor unions, even grassroots efforts or churches. On some level, what is weak knows that it is weak; it understands that foundationally, it cannot support the weight of its own ideas, much less endure an opposing wind.... Read more
This morning, I offer you something completely different – an essay by a still-new-Catholic writer who declares himself irredeemably self-involved and yet manages to write about others with both heart and humor and even to slop a dollop of humility upon himself in the most unusual and engaging way. Enjoy Max Lindenman trying desperately to avoid sharing a meal with people he has loved, known or admired, and the nuns who draw him out, in Houses and the Holy: But... Read more
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