The process of beatification has begun for Vietnamese Cardinal Van Thuan who spent 13 years in prison for the crime of being a Catholic, and carries with him an almost transparent holiness. His story is similar to the story of China’s Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin Mei, who spent 30 years in prison for his faith, living the last part of his life in exile. Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin Mei, in exile A little while back I wrote elsewhere: Like the... Read more
It takes a genuine bigot to suggest that Eucharistic Adoration is a practice reserved to the stupid and the uneducated. Another sort of elitism. Read more
Two weeks before a tough election, they’re exposing themselves continuously to be the exact opposite of who they say they are. They’ve been saying “tolerance” for decades. Like Inigo Montoya, I do no think the word means what they think it means. Stupid. Read more
That’s what I’m talkin’ about: Call Me Madam Joe from RightChange on Vimeo. More here Read more
(Graphic via Ed Driscoll, who has a good roundup) I wonder if it was smart of NPR to–12 days out from an election where leftism is headed for a defeat of rejection—re-inforce the perception that both liberalism and the media are out of control; that they have utterly cast off their former roles as champions of free speech and free thought, in favor of compulsory conformity. On consideration, I (along with Andrew Malcolm) say, no…not smart. Catastrophically not smart. My... Read more
Forgive me for this, but I really must direct your attention to three excellent pieces, all arising from the blog Summa This, Summa That: The first is by Pat Gohn (yes, that Pat Gohn and that Pat Gohn; she’s going to be a star!) who writes about simple hope, in all of its paradoxical complexities: The author of the book of Hebrews puts it this way: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who... Read more
Well, I didn’t get picked to serve on a jury. I am not a rural juror. My name never came out of the little spinny thing, so while I heard the lawyers discuss the barebones of a civil case to twenty prospective jurors, I was never asked whether I could have served on the case, which I could have. The worst part of Jury Duty: sitting in a room with four television screens (!) each tuned to CNN and blaring.... Read more
I think the most nefarious and reprehensible game the press plays–beyond spiking stories to protect the politicians they love–is the trick they have of creating blaring headlines for distorted or misreported stories, and then, in a day or two, or three (or, in the pope’s case, four – always four) they either run a discreet “correction” no one sees, or an even more discreet “clarification” that runs under a nothing-headline and usually turns the original story (and newly-established “narrative”) on... Read more
“Friendship” by Picasso It’s breast cancer awareness month, and Pat Gohn has permitted me to reprint an affecting piece she wrote a couple of years ago, about her own breast cancer, and the a deep and faith-filled friendship that came like a balm and gift to counter the medical chaos: Sometimes friendships blossom where we least expect them — like in foxholes. That echoes my relationship with Judi. I was in a battle, but lacked experience. As a cancer veteran,... Read more
Don’t miss Joseph Susanka’s excellent, insightful essay The Brutality of Grace, wherein he looks at the books (and films) on Cormac McCarthy: Throughout much of her life, Flannery O’Connor struggled against what she perceived as dangerous and excessive sentimentality among her readers, defending her stories against accusations of violence, brutality, and “gothic grotesqueness.” For her, violence was an essential part of her message, for “to expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life and this is a... Read more
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