When the New York Times published this piece and kicked off the whole breathless week of speculation that “Jesus had a wife!” I was surprised. I thought it odd that the Times would report on a story as potentially huge as this, without first making sure that a credible academic imprimatur accompanied it. Now, it seems such an imprimatur is being denied; it is being reliably “rumored” that Harvard’s Theological Review has rejected the conjectures of Professor Karen L. King:... Read more
If you’ve been missing Pat McNamara’s blogposts and columns about the history of the Catholic Church both in America, and in general, (and I know I have been missing them) then I am pleased to announce that he’s back, baby, he’s back, and he kicks off his return with a look at St. Alphonsus Ligouri and the Redemptorists, or, as he was Christened, Alfonso Maria Antonio Giovanni Francesco Cosimo Damiano Michel Angelo Gasparro de Liguori. This Thursday is his birthday,... Read more
Over at the Atheist channel, Bob Seidensticker is experimenting with prayer, in a (to me) closed and complicated way. He has no expectations, doesn’t especially want faith, but has decided to participate in an experiment. Leah Libresco, the brilliant little Yalie who also used to blog in the Atheist channel before she reasoned her way into faith (which happens more than many realize), has taken an interest in Seidensticker’s adventure, and today she offers some creative and helpful advice for... Read more
(Neveshkin Nikolay / Shutterstock.com) My column at First Things this week chronicles the almost surreal behavior of the mainstream media as they do whatever they can to propel Obama and their preferred narrative forward. When the State Department threatened to go into a bureaucratic swoon of Judy-Garlandesque proportions if forced to answer questions about the attack, the press offered a thoughtful cold compress to soothe its frazzled brow, and then closed the door softly, as it made its way out.... Read more
If, like me, you have become convinced that Barack Obama could eat the heart of a slaughtered kitten from the skull of a beaten puppy, while standing on the steps of the Capitol, and all the mainstream press would do was wonder whether he should wash it down with white wine or a light beer, then you will appreciate The Onion’s brutal evisceration of the mainstream media’s blind devotion to Obama, which they wholly have coming to them. They’ve earned... Read more
I’m off to Myrtle Beach to speak at gathering for the National Council of Catholic Women, where I understand they’re having a swell time at the Beach! You can follow the goings-on here and here. I’m hoping I’ll be able to catch up with Lisa Hendey, while there! Since I won’t be able to moderate, I will unfortunately have to close comments. Meanwhile, take a gander at the cover of my book, which will be released next Spring, by Ave... Read more
A completely snark-free post, because the issue is serious: With the news (and the admission) that the Benghazi violence of September 11, which included the murder of our Ambassador, was not a spontaneous outburst of emotion but a planned attack — quite possibly involving Al Qaeda — it’s worth reminding the President and the rest of the country of something important: From the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center to the attacks on New York and Washington, DC, in... Read more
There is a Southern Baptist gentleman, who has corresponded with me for almost as long as this blog has been running. Early on, he would read a news report about the Pope, or the Vatican and he’d shoot me an email that amounted to an outraged “what is [the pope] or [the curia] doing! This is outrageous!” And I would write back and tell him, “wait four days or so, and when the story is fading, you’ll see a correction... Read more
Okay, in fairness, it’s not really Obama’s champagne tower, worth over $100,000. It’s Jay-Z and Beyonce’s golden champagne tower and it was a centerpiece of last night’s Obama campaign fundraiser (his 141st this year) at Jay-Z’s 40/40 club, where for a mere $40,000 per person, folks got to hang with the president and hear his pearls. There’s nothing more to be said, really, except the picture and accompanying story come to you courtesy of the UK press, as both of... Read more
When I go to Adoration, it is such a privilege and such a humility. I go there in poverty — unworthy of anything, but willing to be open, because I trust that all God wants of us is our willingness. Always with the reminder jangling in my brain: Weakness is sown, strength rises up. It is part-and-parcel of the great paradox: when I am weak, then I am strong. I am weak, often at my weakest, when I go to... Read more
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