When words fail, and our hearts are not still, what can we do?When tragedy strikes, there are questions that must be answered, and mourning that we must endure. At times like these, I turn to prayer, and to the psalms seeking comfort. Further still, I look to the poets, like those of a Jesuit priest named Gerard Manly Hopkins. Some poems are meant to be sung, and thankfully, Natalie Merchant sings this one for us beautifully. Follow along with me,... Read more

Have you noticed how tough life is? It’s hard enough to make it on your own, but try living the Christian life fully and the delusion that doing so is easy should have already crashed down upon you like a Summer thunder storm. That is, if you are giving it your all.I’m reminded of the sage words of a military genius again. Ever heard of Carl von Clauswitz? Here is something he shared in his classic book on military strategy,... Read more

The following thoughts are from my patron, St. Macarius the Great. from Homily 26. Question. Does Satan know all of a man’s thoughts and intentions?Answer. If one man, by being acquainted with another, knows about him, and you, who are twenty years old, know the affairs of your neighbor, can Satan fail to know your reasonings? He has been with you from your birth. He is six thousand years old (Note: This is a very rough calculation from the LXX... Read more

-Feast of St. Henry  I’m talking about the YIMCatholic Pandora Radio stations. Frankly, I had forgotten about the possibilites of Pandora Radio. But then a reader jogged my memory after they stumbled across an old post penned by Webster Bull.Written waaay back on New Years Eve in December of 2009, the post is about a station he had created called Bingen Radio. He built it around the seed of St. Hildegard of Bingen’s music. But his conclusion points to the... Read more

I’ve shared in this space thoughts on private interpretation of the scriptures before. Stuff from the Treasure Chest, like the article written by Father Bampfield for the Catholic Truth Society. I’ve even shared my own thoughts on this subject by way of my experience with land navigation and map reading skills.I’ve been flipping through my new favorite classic, The Catholic’s Ready Answer, which I introduced to you this morning. Here again are Jesuit Fathers Michael P. Hill, and F. X.... Read more

Yesterday I published the Music for Mondays post early. Therein, I commented that Catholicism is so deep and so wide, that ideas for writing about it will never be exhausted. But the fact of the matter is, folks like the shiny new stuff better than the old, moldy stuff already sitting in the libraries of the world.Not me. I’m the weirdo contrarian, remember? And you know what else? Lately I’ve been bumping into fantastic stuff written by long dead Jesuit... Read more