And what makes him great? If I told you that would be cheating. Make your best guess and then head on over to our Catholic landing page to find out who Barron is referencing by watching the second part of our three-part exclusive preview of Word on Fire’s The New Evangelization. You can find the first trailer here. Read more
Today’s reading (slightly enlarged) from Morning Prayer, Isaiah 53:11-12 “Because of his anguish he shall see the light; because of his knowledge he shall be content; My servant, the just one, shall justify the many, their iniquity he shall bear. “Therefore I will give him his portion among the many, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, Because he surrendered himself to death, was counted among the transgressors, Bore the sins of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”... Read more
Martin Luther King said “a lie can’t live.” It can travel around for a while, but eventually, like spinning top that is spent, a lie must tumble . It’s supremely interesting to me that at the very moment we are watching the beginnings of an all-out effort by the press and others to “define” the papacy of Benedict XVI, and solidify it in people’s minds as a catastrophic failure, King’s words are being borne-witness to by newly emerging information about... Read more
(image courtesy of Shutterstock.com) Kathryn Lopez gives us a bit of George Weigel on MSNBC. George Weigel keeps his eye on the prize here. This is a good model of communicating in uncertain times, subtly and clearly communicating Gospel truth with fraternal love. Television interviews are deathtraps to the presentment of sophisticated ideas; they’re places unfriendly to nuance or depth, because every story, every thought, must be condensed — truncated to fit the spaces between the profit-making ads. This is... Read more
Immersion in Benedict resignation news, I find the worldly political stories to be stale theater in comparison to the richness of the words I am reading and the authenticity of the pope and the faithful as they meet. Dross to genuine gold. In what is likely his last public homily, Benedict today said: “he reward of the righteous is God Himself, to be united to Him, here, on a journey of faith, and at the end of life, in the... Read more
During an entire liturgy full of beautiful, sweet and touching moments, there was an especial sweetness to the conclusion of today’s Ash Wednesday mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, which was also the last public liturgy that will be performed by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. Rocco Palmo has the moment, and the video, and his title, quoting Benedict, can appropriately summarize the entire pontificate of Joseph Ratzinger: “Thank you; let us return to prayer…” Even for two millenia of a... Read more
Every Ash Wednesday I put away Book III of the Liturgy of the Hours, and pull out Book II for the Lenten and Easter Season. Book III is pretty big, but Book II is “the big book.” It’s a book that carries a little bit of penance for me, on days when the arthritis in my hands is acting up, because just holding it in prayer sometimes makes me aware of pain. The book gets heavy, but Lent is a... Read more
In hindsight, we’re seeing clues, now, and reading words he uttered indicating that Pope Benedict XVI has clearly been thinking of renouncing the papal throne for some time. Forgive me if this sounds absurd on the face of it, but I am wondering if, despite these pieces of evidence, Benedict’s recent entry into Twitter has had anything to do with the seeming abruptness of his announcement. Before you scoff, consider: the pope’s interest in, and support of, the church’s engagement... Read more
In my my first reaction to Benedict’s announcement yesterday, I wrote: Listening to some of the inanities coming out of the mouths of cable news anchors, and noting the way they are quickly, predictably, focusing on the “negative narratives” — one voice on cable anchor is making it sound like the church has just endured 32 years of misery and she imagines “great joy” among “progressive” Catholics and “confusion” among “conservative” ones — how grateful I am that, thanks to... Read more
First — best comment of the day, from I know not where. Stole it from Mark Shea on Facebook: “Pope joins Twitter. Loses interest in job.” I think part of the reason some people have had trouble processing what Benedict is doing — aside from the fact that we’ve never seen this in our lifetimes — is that we have become so habitually ironic that we don’t know how else to be. But even irony has grown stale. Only authenticity... Read more
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