On the world’s summit, in the very heart of the spiritual, is found the handmaid of God, a manifestation of the human being re-established in its original truth. This is woman’s vocation: to protect the world of humans as mother, and to save it as a virgin, by giving to this world a soul, her soul. The destiny of the new world lies in the hands of the mother. As the Quran states it so beautifully, ‘Paradise lies at the... Read more
After reading the comments both at Vox Nova and my blog on the issue of working moms and the Church, I thought it would be good to do a follow up post. First, my word choice gave the impression that I felt that being a mom is not enough. That is not good and it is not what I believe. I think the sentence that gave that impression was “Men get to have it all.” “All” meaning marriage, kids, and... Read more
Internet confession time: I like Michael Novak, Father Neuhaus, George Weigel, Joseph Bottom, and Jimmy Akin. Catholic Answers was an important resource in my conversion. Those Catholics with concerns about their views, especially on war, immigration, and economics, often state their opinions forcefully and with proper emphasis on the gravity of the political questions at hand. I hope we can go into more details as time progresses about those policy questions. But it’s the big picture I’m more interested in... Read more
For those who didn’t get a chance to read the comments to my prior post, I invite you to at this time. Two comments in particular were very interesting. One reader commented upon finding a Catholic Worker House and learning how to change society from below and not just on top. Another reader reprinted a letter to America magazine from the Archdiocese of Detroit commenting upon some Catholics attempting to use the voter’s guide produced by Catholic Answers in opposition... Read more
I think, perhaps, that America could benefit from some training in nonviolent communication (NVC). Certainly the Catholic blogosphere could. Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. The lies start early, and what’s worse – we tell them to ourselves. Words hurt. Words kill. “The tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire. It exists among... Read more
The central question underlying this series of discussions has been, “Should Catholics follow the utopian vision of modern democracies?” Many might think this is a question about whether or not Catholics should live within and work with democracies. Certainly they can, and indeed, those who live within them are encouraged to work within their system to transform it the best they can, in a process of reformation without end. Perhaps to deal with the confusion it might have been better... Read more
There’s a new online initiative going by the name Catholics Against Rudy. Slated to launch on July 4th, the site will focus on Rudy Giuliani’s pro-choice views. Steve Dillard, one of the founders of Catholics Against Rudy, has unequivocally stated, “You cannot, in good conscience as a faithful Catholic, vote for Rudy Giuliani.” This statement clearly extends beyond the more balanced statement of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s memo to Cardinal McCarrick in 2004 as outlined in Ratzinger’s nota bene section. Republican... Read more
Part 1: Energy Balance of the Earth and Greenhouse Gases I have decided to break down the summary of the conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change into two posts instead due to the amount of information contained in it. This is the same document that the Nuncio and the Holy See are referring back to when speaking of global warming, so it is important for us to understand what is contained in it. Basically, I have used the... Read more
Shortly after its inception, the contributors of Vox Nova have generally been labeled as “liberal” or “leftist.” The inadequacy and insufficiency of such descriptions have, on a number of occasions, been pointed out, most forcefully and articulately by Radical Catholic Mom. Here, I wish to add my voice to hers, going even further to make the claim that those who would introduce the terms such as ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ as a means of engaging in philosophical/political/theological discourse suffer from a... Read more
Well, a recent post by Michael Iafrate caused quite a stir among Catholic blogs, not least of all due to its radical message. Not that radicality is necessarily a bad thing, but it can certainly cause unease, however remotely, among those caught off-guard regardless of whether the radical proposal is right or wrong, cogent or preposterous, adequate or insufficient. One observation that I have made on the number of posts that sought to address, counter and refute Michael is a... Read more
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