During his recent visit to South Korea, Pope Francis touched upon many familiar themes in his talks and homilies. One in particular that he returned to was his desire that the Catholic Church be “a poor church for the poor,” a vision he first expressed in the days immediately following his election. It should not be surprising that he had strong words on this subject for the Korean bishops, and that what he had to say made them feel uncomfortable. ... Read more
Another quote from the folks at Daily Gospel Online: Jean-Pierre de Caussade, a 17th century Jesuit, wrote So the rest of the story, which consists of the whole mystical life of Jesus in the souls of saints, remains a matter of our faith… The Holy Spirit no longer writes gospels, except in our hearts; saintly souls are the pages, suffering and action the ink. The Holy Spirit is writing a living gospel with the pen of action, which we will... Read more
This is just a note to let you know that some changes have been made to the site. The page linked at the top entitled “Links” has been reorganized and renamed “Worthy Links” It has links to papal documents on social justice, the documents of Vatican II, and other teaching documents (such as the Catechism). It also has links to various church related organizations and social justice campaigns. Our blogroll has been updated and moved to the sidebar. Should you... Read more
Resolved: most Catholics can’t answer this question. Worse, many of our problems come from people who think they can. Today’s gospel: Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are... Read more
A lovely quote from Pope Benedict, from the folks at the Daily Gospel online. They chose it to accompany the reading for the 7th Sunday of Easter, John 17:1-11a. I have highlighted a couple sentences that really struck me because I had been recently reading about St. Bernadine of Siena and thinking about devotion to the Holy Name. What, then, does “the name of God” mean?… The Revelation of John speaks of the adversary of God, the “beast”. This beast,... Read more
It would seem something like Godwin’s law applies to the vexed question of whether or not atheism is a religion: “The longer an internet conversation about the subject goes, the probability of a “new atheist” claiming that “atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position” approaches 1.” Actually, the “longer” part is more or less irrelevant. It is very often the first thing said on the matter. Indeed, one of the most salient features of the “new atheism” (I... Read more
The American Movement Conservative opposition to the ACA and other current and previous social-democratic initiatives has a racial dimension. Discuss. Read more
I was reading a post by Sam Rocha over at Patheos, which talked a bit about Vox Nova. Sam was once a contributor, and an excellent one at that. In this new piece, he notes that the thorny of right-wing cafeteria Catholicism has developed a new twist – the very people who once held themselves as paragons of fidelity and orthodoxy suddenly feel free to lash out against Pope Francis and his teachings. In his post, Sam talks a little... Read more
Among the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are two: bury the dead, and pray for the living and the dead. At his blog, Deacon Greg Kandra tells a said story that relates to these: I just had a disturbing conversation with a co-worker whose sister passed away a few days ago, and when the family tried to arrange her funeral, they were refused by a local parish because the sister wasn’t registered there. The sister had been sick with... Read more
I was catching up on some old email and I found this story from Cardinal O’Malley as relayed by Michael Sean Winters: O’Malley …related a story about the Capuchin provincial asking for a truly difficult assignment for the friars. They were given the missionary territory of Papua New Guinea. O’Malley relates: Many years later, a young friar I ordained who was working in Papua New Guinea came to see me on his home visit. He had glorious pictures of smiling... Read more
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