A dear friend of mine just sent me an e-mail, asking: “What do you say to those who believe that the self is just an illusion?” I trust and know this question was not asked trivially; perhaps my hasty reply (and some further comments) may be of some interest here too. It goes as follows: (more…) Read more
We bid farewell to a great Catholic public servant, from a generation that understood the depth and breadth of Catholic teaching. And there are very few people who can get Bono to sing at their funeral! Requiescat in pace. Read more
This is my first real reading of Augustine. I’m going to attempt over the next month or so to work through all the books of Confessions. If the first sentence didn’t make matters clear, I’m not an expert on Augustine. I also am not a theologian. What I will be offering in this series are first impressions without the context or knowledge to sustain arguments. I invite corrections and offers of context from those knowledgeable. Book 1 focuses on Augustine’s... Read more
There is a fascinating interview with Joseph Weiler of NYU Law at the National Catholic Reporter today. Weiler is the attorney who represented the state of Italy in its defense of keeping crucifixes in public school classrooms, pro bono; he is also a deeply religious Jew. In the interview he discusses a forthcoming book which I am very much looking forward to reading. His focus is on the trial of Jesus: not specifically the death or the theology of the... Read more
We have been made in the image and likeness of God. Because of this, we are sub-creators, able to interact with the world and to produce something in it which did not previously exist in any substantial form. No matter how people would want to interpret the “tree of knowledge of good and evil,” it is clear that what we create, what we establish in the world, could be said to be “evil.” Now, this is a conundrum. Metaphysically, evil... Read more
One of the greatest farces being explored on the internet right now is the claim that married deacons and married clergy should be told that they cannot have sexual relations with their spouses. The justification for this is from canon law. Despite the universalistic tones expressed about this, when pressed, those pushing for this admit this is only for the Latin Rite, but they do suggest, the East should consider following the example of the West: “I don’t know why so... Read more
Making headlines today were the comments of new Alabama governor Robert Bentley, to the effect that anyone who has not accepted Jesus as a personal Lord and Savior is not his brother or sister. The comment raised the ire of non-Christians and elicited a statement from the Anti-Defamation League. The governor quickly apologized for the comments, indicating that he believes he is a public servant to all the citizens of the state. The story called to my mind the words... Read more
More of a question that a post. Does anyone have any personal contact with the Neocatechumenal Way? I never heard of them before, but I learned today that the Bishops of Japan have been trying to ban them from their entire country. The Wikipedia article is lengthy, but shows signs of having been edited by a partisan. According to Wikipedia, they have 250 communities in the US. The idea of the movement sounds intriguing, but I noticed that its constitutions... Read more
Sandro Magister (whom I really like, in case you have not figured that out yet!) has a great excerpt from Pope Benedict’ general audience of January 12 and from his encyclical Spe Salvi. In both he is discussing purgatory. The following are a couple random thoughts, including a question I have thought about for a while. The first thing that struck me is that in his treatment of purgatory, either discussing Catherine of Genoa in his audience or in his... Read more
A few months ago, I shared my enthusiasm for Father Robert Barron and recommended his online homilies to Vox Nova readers. Just yesterday, I was delighted to discover that Deacon Frederick Bauerschmidt also has made his homilies available online. For those who don’t know, Deacon Bauerschmidt – also known as Dr. Bauerschmidt, Professor Bauerschmidt, or Fritz – is one of the more important Aquinas scholars working in America today. His Holy Teaching: Introducing the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas is... Read more
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