I threw this into social media, but must blog on it here, because I don’t want anyone to miss this story: Under Turkish Mud Well, Preserved Byzantine Chapel Found. It’s in Myra! Home of Saint Nicholas! And look! (Photo source Myra-Andriake Excavations via NY Times) After some 800 years as an important pilgrimage site in the Byzantine Empire it vanished — buried under 18 feet of mud from the rampaging Myros River. All that remained was the Church of St.... Read more
In telling the GOP to use the Obama playbook, yesterday, did Mark Thiessen calculate poorly in his Washington Post piece? He’s a very smart man, but I suspect he did: Thiessen’s recommendation makes a deadly miscalculation: He forgets that Obama’s single-minded pursuits are fully backed and protected by the mainstream press. Whether in print or broadcast, our increasingly lofty and elitist media are a little like the FDIC to Obama’s commercial bank; they provide insurance and coverage. They differ from... Read more
This has been going through my head for weeks. “I saw a huge steam roller, It blotted out the sun. The people all lay down, lay down; They did not try to run. My love and I, we looked amazed Upon the gory mystery. “Lie down, lie down!” the people cried. “The great machine is history!” My love and I, we ran away, The engine did not find us. We ran up to a mountain top, Left history far behind... Read more
I have been waiting for a long time for the release of Mary DeTurris Poust’s latest book, Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image and God, and here it finally is: Before I had read a word about the book a glimpse of the cover spelled out a central aspect of its message: we see a luscious berry, so overripe it’s almost bursting; you want to just grab it and indulge in it, but note the thorns that warn against... Read more
Two very different women, coming from very different perspectives, are unhappy with Les Miserable. Their unhappiness reminds us that though we polish and burnish our preferred lenses, we obscure our own capacity to see. Feminist author Stacy Wolf takes to the pages of the WaPo to report that as a feminist, all she could see was the bad men and victim women who populate her daily thoughts; width and breadth are just words: . . .in “Les Miz,” female characters... Read more
As we creep towards a new year, with no real idea what is around the corner, I just want to sincerely wish everyone a year filled with light, and — from that light — a measure of peace. In the Office we pray “in your light, we see light…” and yet we are never blinded by Christ’s light, even when it transfigures ( and as Peter, James and John might tell us, transfiguration can be scary). “Of his fullness, we... Read more
…Filling the darkness with order and light you are the sentinels silent and sure keeping watch in the night… — “Stars” from Les Miserable No, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I couldn’t help but think it after seeing what our darkened cities would show of the night sky, (H/T): (Excepted from link) © Thierry Cohen, “San Francisco 37° 48′ 30” N 2010-10-09 lst 20:58″, courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff If you live in a heavily populated area, chances are... Read more
In its end-of-year issue, Our Sunday Visitor has profiled 9 Outstanding Catholics of 2012 who have been particularly effective “examples of leadership, service and witness in the past year.” Three of those nominated for consideration blog here, at Patheos — Marc Barnes (Bad Catholic), Lisa Hendey (A Good Measure) and Leah Libresco (Unequally Yoked) — and another, Sister Lisa Marie Doty, of Nunspeak Blog has contributed several pieces, to our Habit of Witness series. It was my pleasure to contribute... Read more
Isn’t it nice to hear those words and know that what you did was something good, and not something bad? I can’t wait to stop posting and to shut down for Christmas, but I can’t do that without telling you folks what you have done! That pic (which I have cribbed from the Facebook timeline of the wonderful Leslie Cascone Rohrbacker with her permission) is just a portion of toy deliveries that made it to Straight and Narrow of Paterson,... Read more
O Morning Star, splendour of eternal light and sun of justice, come and illumine those seated in darkness and the shadow of death. Read more
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