Feast of St. Peter Claver When I was startled into wondering if I could become a Catholic, one thing really stood out to me as a proof of the legitimacy of the Church—the miracles. The Catholic Church believes in miracles without flinching. They even have a standard operating procedure in place to prove or disapprove miracles. Before I converted, I was a Christian. But I was also a child of the modern age. A rationalist. As a Christian, I believed... Read more
I’ve been reading one of John Wu’s books. I first received it via Intra-library loan through my local public library. But it is so good that I coughed up the dough to buy my own copy as well. It’s worth the cost, trust me. (more…) Read more
Like me, Webster is partial to Gerard Manley Hopkins, a 19th century poet who also was a Catholic convert and a Jesuit. (Depicted here bronze by Irish sculptor Rowan Gillsepie). Webster has cited Hopkins’s poems here, here and here. Poems are meant to be read out loud; this is especially true for Hopkins’s. He used “sprung rhythm,” which is intended to sound like natural speech. (Unlike most poets who use free verse, however, Hopkins made sure the number of feet per... Read more
On this, the feast day of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, take a long look at this painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. He was a 17th century Baroque artist from Seville whose paintings depict the joys of spiritual life. This one, displayed at the Louvre in Paris, shows the birth of our Blessed Mother. She is being cared for by angels and servants while her mother, Saint Anne, rests in the background. We don’t know much about the early life... Read more
It is the time of the year when those who are curious about the Catholic Church can seek answers to their questions in a setting that is non-threatening. This is done by means of the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults, aka the RCIA program. Back in 2007, I made my second sojourn through the RCIA program as a Candidate. That is the term given to those who enter the RCIA process and have already been baptised in another Christian faith... Read more
It’s Labor Day here in the U.S.A., a federal holiday where we commemorate the joys of working by giving ourselves the day off. There is lots of history backing up the establishment of this holiday and you can read all about it somewhere else. Here at YIM Catholic, though, we’re just glad to be off today. While we are at it though, lets remember our brethren who are unemployed in this recessionary economy, both here and abroad. If you know... Read more
This is a first for me, as I’ve never been asked to write a book review before. But a few months back, I wrote a post about how a particular section in the Rule of St. Benedict resonated with me as a father. It turns out, that I wasn’t alone. Full disclosure time: Father Dwight Longenecker offered to send me a copy of his book at no cost if I would do a review of it. I accepted his kind... Read more
If you’re intellectual, if you’re a smart, sophisticated person, you can’t possibly have faith in God, right? We’ve been hearing this for centuries. “Every sect, as far as reason will help them, make use of it gladly; and where it fails them, they cry out, “It is a matter of faith, and above reason.” So said John Locke, English philosopher, political theorist. He founded Empiricism, the school of thought that tell us if we can’t measure something with our senses,... Read more
I know, I know. Especially as an English teacher, I know. You’re supposed to read the book first, then watch the movie. But the truth is, I’ve never read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, or his Lord of the Rings trilogy. But for the past two nights, friends of our sons have been gathering at our home to watch Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of Lord of the Rings on the massive wide-screen TV we inherited from dear friends who recently moved... Read more
As summer slips away and I spend my days shopping for school supplies for our sons, taking one last visit to the beach, and enrolling in graduate school classes, I’ve been contemplating what difference the existence of the Eucharist makes in my life. How long exactly, does it take to receive communion? Maybe a few seconds, yes? In that act, we unite with eternity. This is what Fr. Luigi Giussani, founder of the Communion and Liberation movement, refers to this as... Read more
Why I Am Catholic
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In