Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is one of the most beautiful Christmas stories out there. In it we see the presence of ghosts, ghosts facing punishment for the sins committed in life. Marley’s ghost came to Scrooge as a part of his penance, and, one can only guess that this act of charity ultimately has positive effect on Marley even as it does on Scrooge. But the question could be asked, how Christian is this? Can Christians believe in ghosts?... Read more
Hat tip to CathNewsUSA for the link to this really quite funny skit: None of this can be true, of course, since God is a Packer’s fan! 🙂 (Why do you think they call Wisconsin “God’s country”?) Read more
Maybe I am beating a dead horse, but the tongue-twisting nature of the new Missal is still proving to be an obstacle for me. By habit, I do not use a missalette: I have forced myself to listen to the lectors and the presider and make a real effort to understand what they are saying. Part of this comes from the days when I helped train lectors, but part is a belief that liturgy is spoken and therefore should be... Read more
Vaclav Havel died yesterday. Poet, playwright, political dissident and prisoner, non-violent revolutionay, president of his beloved Czechoslovakia and later, the Czech Republic. His motto was “truth and love must prevail over lies and hate.” His constant concern, both as a playwright and as a politician, was the connection betwen morality and responsibility. As he said in a speech to the US Congress: “The only genuine backbone of all our actions—if they are to be moral—is responsibility. Responsibility to something higher than... Read more
Introduction and Part II “People with filthy clothes soil the coats of those who rub against them. Likewise, the immoral and the wicked, when they come into contact with the simple-minded and speak to them about evil, defile such people’s souls through their talk.”[1] Desire is the foundation for sin and leads to its destruction.[2] “The beginning of salvation and of the heavenly kingdom for the soul is love.”[3] The idle soul is just like copper which is left unused:... Read more
This morning brings news of the death of the public intellectual Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens had been battling with esophogeal cancer for the past year or so, a struggle he chronicled in the pages of Vanity Fair, where he was a longtime columnist. Fr. James Martin, SJ, has a wonderful blog post on Hitchens today. It really is must reading. Fr. Martin writes, “Someone asked me this morning what I hoped for Christopher Hitchens … and my first response was to say... Read more
It seems to me that the United States owes a particular duty to Mexico. Consider three facts. First, Mexico is falling prey to incredibly ruthless militarized drug cartels who exist solely to provide narcotics to the United States, which has an almost insatiable demand for such products. Second, these militarized groups acquire their weapons from the United States, made easy by the scandalously lax gun laws north of the border (I’ve seen numbers suggesting that between 70 and 90 percent... Read more
In the last entry of the Exegesis, Philip K. Dick is suggesting his work has come to an end. He has become a whole person. He now believes that a higher, unfallen aspect of himself has been helping direct his fallen, incarnated self and now that he has discerned this, the two can come together and form one whole person: What I realized is: true existence requires experience of both Yang and Yin: I saw them as two rings, a... Read more
In the news, we see politicians debating what we should do with Iran. The fear is that Iran might soon possess nuclear weapons. They certainly want them. They see the power associated with nuclear arms: those who have them are not dictated to, but rather, listened to and engaged. Those who don’t have them can be bullied – and are bullied – by those who have them. This is the real reason why Iran wants them. It is not about... Read more
In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Rick Santorum has challenged the U.S. Bishops on their stand on immigration. Here are the two key quotes: “If we develop the program like the Catholic bishops suggested we would be creating a huge magnet for people to come in and break the law some more, we’d be inviting people to cross this border, come into this country and with the expectation that they will be able to stay here permanently.” (more…) Read more
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