AMERICA IS A COMPELLING PLACE TO BEHOLD, in both the literal and more figurative uses of that word “behold.” Sometimes I love America as a child loves a father. This kind of love is the very etymology of the term “patriotism,” from patris, “father(land).” I’ve travelled extensively in the interior West, and every time I do the beauty of the landscape takes my breath away. The beauty is not mannered and settled in the way that other continents are —... Read more
This weekend was Mission Sunday in our parish. As is usually the case, our Pastor was on vacation, so he arranged with the Archdiocese to have the annual mission priest come to the parish to say mass. Our visitor today was Fr. Binu Ratahppilly, VC, a member of the Vincentian Congregation. This is a religious community founded in India in the 19th century. It draws its inspiration from St. Vincent de Paul and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul,... Read more
Back in February I had a post on modesty and dress, which I analyzed through the feminist lens of the “male gaze.” This is a subject we have discussed regularly on Vox Nova (see here, here, here, and here). I my last post there were a few interesting questions left open, in particular a suggestion in a follow up post at Gaudete Theology linking modesty and humility. However, for one reason or another I never went back to this.... Read more
I was converted by Haitian Eucharistic hymns. Of course, there is a good deal more to the story than that, but the statement is nonetheless true – especially if one considers the conversion process (which never really ends) to contain many conversions, big and small, along the way. And my first conversion in relation to the Catholic Church was the gradual realization that something bigger than I knew was going on in the liturgy, and particularly in the Eucharist. It... Read more
In my first post on vocations I suggested a different way to think about the crisis in priestly vocations: reframe the numbers needed by localizing to the level of individual parishes. I do not think that this quantification (one vocation per parish every five years) will solve the problem, but I think that it serves two goals. First, it makes the problem seem more tractable. Second, it refocuses attention to the local level in a way which, I hope,... Read more
MY FAMILY MOVED TO BENICIA, CALIFORNIA when I was 13 ½ years old, on March 11, 1976. Benicia was a much smaller town then — the suburban growth boom that marked the era in the Bay Area had just reached my new town, and the Southampton development to the north of town existed, but only a couple blocks up from Southampton Road had been built out, and even in the older part of town, my parents’ house up on M... Read more
New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan recently penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Pope Francis and economics. The op-ed was deeply flawed. As we know, the American libertarian rear guard has been attacking the pope for a whole now on what they regard as his deficient understanding of economics. This would have been a perfect opportunity to push back, on their home turf no less. But Dolan doesn’t do that. What Dolan does—with the apparent help of notorious... Read more
I’VE BEEN ENJOYING A NEW SERIES ON HBO, “Silicon Valley.” It is produced by Mike Judge, the man who made the 1999 cult hit “Office Space.” A running gag on the show is the conceit among the titans of tech that their inventions are “making the world a better place.” This idea ought to resonate not just with techies, but with all of us. The idea that technological progress is synonymous with human progress pervades American discourse — but while... Read more
It’s not too often that I get the chance to post about language-related issues on a site related to Catholic social teaching, but a news roundup from the American Translators Association, of which I am a member, has delivered a story in which these two sets of concerns dovetail quite naturally. Here is the story as summarized in the ATA Newsbriefs (the original news article is here): A Spanish-speaking woman is suing New Jersey’s Berlin Township police department for false arrest because... Read more
Resolved: As Roman Catholics observe the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of the Second Vatican Council’s “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,” it seems an appropriate time to consider ways contemporary liturgical music supports the word proclaimed and preached. Contemporary liturgical composers and lyricists have done a great service to the church by cultivating “easy access to Sacred Scripture…for all the Christian faithful” (No. 22). They have sowed the word in the hearts, minds and memories of the faithful by uniting... Read more
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