I have been debating whether I should write this post. A part of me wonders if it is a pointless endeavor. Every time I have begun to write this, I have trashed it half way. Part of the problem is that I am not sure what my point is. And as every good writer knows two questions must be answered before one can write: “Who is your audience and what is your point?” But on the topics that are so... Read more
Jacques Maritain, from “Art & Scholasticism” If you want to make a Christian work, then be Christian, and simply try to make a beautiful work, into which your heart will pass; do not try to “make Christian.” Do not make the absurd attempt to dissociate in yourself the artist and the Christian. They are one, if you are truly Christian, and if your art is not isolated from your soul by some system of aesthetics. But apply only the artist... Read more
Many people point out that St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, aka, St Edith Stein, was a Jew and her death can only be understood because she was a Jew. Yes, she was a Jew. Her Jewish heritage allowed her to appreciate the Gospel in a rather unique way. She related her faith in relation to her understanding of Jewish history and tradition. But she was so much more than a Jew. She was a feminist. (more…) Read more
I have been thinking about feminism and Catholicism recently. First, a disclaimer: I have, for a long time, thought of myself as a feminist, if only in the sense of the old bumper sticker “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” I was happy to wear a “This is what a feminist looks like” t-shirt on International Women’s Day. My feminist credentials have been challenged from time to time because of my pro-life views, and I am... Read more
For Americans of a certain vintage (meaning old people like me), Mark O. Hatfield, who died Sunday, will be remembered as the kind of politician who used to give us hope. Hatfield, a lifelong Republican, was elected Governor of Oregon in 1958 and US Senator from Oregon in 1966. He served the next thirty years in the Senate, carving out a reputation for independence, bipartisanship, and political courage. A Baptist, Hatfield’s political model was William Wilberforce, the British Evangelical and Member of Parliament whose fierce... Read more
Given the context, this question seems almost absurd. And yet, after reading a little about European communist parties of the interwar and early postwar period, I am struck by the tonal and tactical similarities between these groups and the Republican party in its latest, ever more extreme, incarnation. Fundamentally, the communist parties focused almost uniquely on political goals, despite the economic underpinning of their ideological narrative. To them, the end justified the means, and they often had no problem resorting to violence... Read more
Introduction and Part II God is good, man wicked. There is no evil in heaven, and no goodness on earth. Therefore the intelligent man chooses the better part and acknowledges the God of all; he thanks and praises God, and before death he hates the body; and he does not allow his evil senses to carry out their desires, for he knows their destructiveness and their strength.[1] “The wicked man delights in excess while he despises justice.”[2] A wicked person... Read more
When it comes to certainty, I have a scattered heart and mind. I won’t say that I am uncertain about certainty, cause that’s cliché and precisely one of the things I am uncertain about. I am quite certain about this and other uncertainties I have. Unlike Kyle, I don’t have a rating for certainty, religious or otherwise. (Is there a kind of certainty that is not religious?) For starters, I constantly run into the same issue: I don’t know what... Read more
For those of you who missed the 3rd leg of the U2 360Tour…or for those who want to re-savor some its specialness… Here is their cover of a Leonard Cohen classic and then an uplifting rendition of one of their own: Read more
Matthew 14:22-33 After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward... Read more
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