One of the most misunderstood and abused stories from Scripture relates to Sts Mary and Martha: Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me... Read more
From Austen Ivereigh: “Look at the statements and homilies made by some of the Irish bishops yesterday following their two-day meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, and one thing will be perfectly obvious: they just don’t understand the problem. There is plenty there about sin and repentance, God’s loving and healing mercy, and the evil of abuse of children — and of course, mention of guidelines which prevent it happening again. But what none of them mentions is the culture of collusion... Read more
One of the things which never fails to annoy me is the fundamentalist, Jack-Chick like way many Catholics engage Islam. Since we have had a long history of people over-simplifying the teachings of the Church, using quotes way out of context to create the impression that Church leaders and doctrine are all about idolatry and the cruel manipulation of the peoples of the world for various evil agendas, we should know how easy it is to misconstrue the faith of... Read more
Every year during the Great Fast, we are reminded again and again about the need for purification, to simplify our lives and for rid ourselves of all that would separate us from the love of God. We are called to live out the dying to our self-made image so that we can become alive in Christ. It is not that this is the only time in which we are called to do this (we are called to do so throughout... Read more
As I stated in my previous post, defenders of torture are removing the ticking time bomb from their defense. 5 years ago, plus or minus, those that wanted to remain respectable made a big deal about torture not being illicit in the case of a ticking time bomb. They did this in part to avoid having to defend each and every instance that our government used torture. In particular, the revelations of Abu Ghraib were fresh, and there was no need to defend what... Read more
Please forgive me for posting an Easter song on the second day of Lent, but this is one of the most gorgeous songs I’ve heard in a very long time. And it might just get me through these last days of what has been a brutal winter. It’s “Bells of Harlem” and it’s the last track from the new album A Friend of a Friend from Dave Rawlings Machine — which is what happens when Gillian Welch and her partner... Read more
During the recent snowstorm in the eastern United States, I thought to myself, will the global warming denialists be using the this storm to rally against global warming? Surely they realize that increased precipitation is fully compatible with, and even predicted by, climate change? Surely they understand that the differences between trends and cycles? Surely they realize that, despite the frigid temperatures in the densely populated areas of Europe and North America, January 2010 was among the warmest on record? Alas no, the Fox... Read more
As Michael Voris and “RealCatholicTV” continues their rhetoric against the USCCB and the USCCB’s charitable activity, Catholics United have countered the anti-CCHD campaign with their own pro-CCHD petition. As Catholics United says: For decades, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has worked to end poverty by empowering people in low-income communities. Despite CCHD’s organizing successes, the Catholic Right is now working to discredit the program and take away its funding. Just last week, a coalition of anti-social justice groups... Read more
Here are three Ash Wednesday posts that may be of interest. The first is from Debra Dean Murphy who is on the religion faculty at West Virginia Wesleyan College and who I have gotten to know a bit through the Ekklesia Project. Growing up in West Virginia, I never heard an Ash Wednesday homily that connected coal dust, ashes, social sin, and repentance. I suppose that’s not so strange, considering the economic, political, and cultural power that “King Coal” has... Read more
Well, I admire the man for his honesty. He says what he believes. I’m talking here about Inside Catholic’s Deal Hudson, who has asked for a Catholic tea party movement. This is part of a larger trend, as the Catholics aligned with a certain ideological tendency in the United States – that tendency associated with the Republican party and the broader movement that incorrectly dubs itself conservative – are more and more willing to ape the tactics and strategies of... Read more
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