As I write this, the Green Bay Packers are leading the Denver Broncos 13-7 (we’ll see if that sticks!). Brett Favre, the quarterback of the Packers, has always impressed me with his resolve, durability, class and passion. I was privileged to attend the game in which he played the day after the death of his father. It was in December 2003 against the Oakland Raiders, and Favre statistically had the greatest game of his long career (399 yards, 4 TDs).... Read more
These important feast days are quickly approaching and I thought I would share with you how we celebrate them in our home and lives. November 1: the Feast Day of All Saints. On this day the Church celebrates all of the brilliant and not so brilliant people who loved God so much they chose Him over all else. They loved him so much they became Holy like Him and during their lives their holiness could be seen by others. Think... Read more
Peter Steinfels has a good discussion of the USCCB’s draft election year statement that has yet to gain final approval. He notes the background, as the “official guide” in 2004 was upstaged in some circles by “unlicensed guides”, such as the “five non-negotiable principles” document put out by Catholic Answers. Steinfels does not mention that some of these guides not only attempted ignore the bishops and align the Catholic Church with the Party of War and Mammon, but are also underpinned... Read more
Christian history, as its content is disclosed in the Book of Revelation, represents the tragedy of a struggle of the Church with the Beast and with false prophets, in which prior to the dawning of the eschatological and the Church will attain victory (so far as it can be attained in the world), so that Christ’s millennium with his saints will be brought about. But the end does not come in an arbitrary way as a deus ex machina, but... Read more
A humbling sample of solidarity by the Iraqi soldiers (go to CNN for more). This is not the first time the Iraqi soldiers donate money to the U.S. as it is reported that they contributed $680 for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Read more
“Thank goodness I’m not like those people who talk during Mass…” “Thank goodness I’m blessed with so many gifts…” “Thank goodness I’m not like those women who wear immodest clothes…” “Thank goodness I’m a practicing Catholic…” “Thank goodness I’m not like one of those people who are alcoholic or drug addicts…” Have not all of us said something along these lines at least once in our lives? This past Sunday’s Gospel is truly a challenge for all of us who... Read more
Some interesting news over the weekend: Catholic News Agency reports that three Church of Ireland parishes have formally requested admittance to full communion with the Catholic Church: Three Church of Ireland parishes have asked to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church, The Irish Catholic newspaper reports this week. The decision would pave the way for over 400,000 Anglicans to become Catholic.The parishes, located in the counties Down, Tyrone and Laois, are members of the traditional rite of... Read more
I’m a fan of the writings of Douglas Adams. In my personal library, I even have a signed copy of Last Chance to See (I bought it used, so the inscription is not, alas, dedicated to me). Adams like Pullman was an atheist. Like Pullman, he tried to encourage his brand of atheism in his books. Unlike Pullman, Adams had a sense of humor and could and did laugh at himself and his own position as he did at theists.... Read more
I am on my way back — having a beer in the airport — from the annual AALS hiring conference. (This is, for the unitiated, a several-days-long affair, at a huge hotel, where aspiring law-professors run from one 30 minute interview to another, and the appointments commitees of dozens and dozens of law schools hole up in suites, waiting to pepper candidates with questions about their goals, lives, work, etc.) One result of spending the day meeting and talking with a contingent of talented, engaging, and... Read more
Modern literary criticism has worked hard to remove the privileged position of the author in the interpretation of their works. Many people trained to follow its dictates often do so ignorant of the philosophical presuppositions it suggests. Yet these premises should be disturbing to any Christian. Here, however, I am concerned with only one of them, and the one which is the most important: what exactly are we to make of the relationship of an author with the story and... Read more
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