September 15, 2009

Why would you give yourself, body and soul, to the Church? People don’t ask this question usually, but it’s there. And if I feel it, imagine what a priest feels, or a nun. It was there in the comment from “Anonymous” yesterday at the bottom of one of my most heartfelt posts. He/she wrote, “I’m always bewildered by how many times Catholics use the term ‘the Church’ when they should be saying ‘Jesus Christ.’ Jesus Christ is the Saviour of... Read more

September 14, 2009

We hear a lot about memories so painful they are repressed. Psychologists study them: some actually happened, some not. But what about positive memories that we forget—of mentors, say, who turned our lives in positive directions? What happens to these memories? Are we too ungrateful to harbor them? And what do we call these memories when they finally alight? I call one of them Dr. Bassage. For the first time since I began this blog, I remembered Harold Bassage today... Read more

September 13, 2009

The four most important people in my life are women: Katie, our two daughters, and my recently widowed mother—three generations, with correspondingly different outlooks. What do I wish for them? Happiness. It is logical to me, then, to judge the Catholic Church by this criterion: Are Catholic women happy? I thought of this tonight while reading the new print edition of First Things which has not yet appeared on the First Things website. In it there is an article by... Read more

September 12, 2009

Forty years ago, I first saw A Man for All Seasons, about the martyrdom of St. Thomas More. I saw it again this afternoon, maybe my fifteenth viewing, but only my first as a Catholic. Why do I love this film so much? Let’s give it the Kristin Lavransdatter treatment, with a Top-10 countdown: 10. As More, Paul Scofield rocks. A British TV report of his death likened his voice to the sound of “a Rolls Royce starting up.” When... Read more

September 12, 2009

Thanks to the Deacon’s Bench for featuring this collection of new images by fashion photographer Michael Belk. Christ is among us, isn’t he? Read more

September 12, 2009

Just back from my Saturday morning men’s group at St. Mary Star of the Sea. A great group of guys, usually about fifteen strong; a mixed group, agewise, smartswise, even faithwise. Protestants slip over the fence once in a while, and Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, even atheists are welcome. Some members, like Ferde, Bill, and Jonathan, are extraordinarily knowledgeable about scripture and Catholic doctrine. Ferde founded the group three or four years ago, and it has grown successfully under his leadership.... Read more

September 10, 2009

I found this photograph while cleaning out Dad’s office after his death last fall. The caption on the back, in my mother’s hand, reads, “Dave and Web, Galesburg, December 1951.” Which makes this my first Christmas. We must have been visiting Dad’s sister Roz and her family in Illinois. It’s not exactly St. Joseph and the Baby Jesus. I look like I’m in the presence of Jesus, or maybe Darth Vader. In any case, it is very dear to me.... Read more

September 10, 2009

I see faces like Ralph McInerny’s face every morning at mass. It is the face of a joyful person, a joyful Catholic. So when I saw this face beaming out from one of my favorite daily reads, Pat McNamara’s blog of Catholic history, I smiled. It makes me think of Frank Gaudenzi, of Flo Marchegiani and Maria Maticoli, of Henry and Phyllis, of Barbara and Warren, of Michael and Elizabeth, of Neil and Julie, yes, even of that tireless curmudgeon... Read more

September 9, 2009

I found this story passed along by Deacon Greg Kandra too inspiring to pass up. Like St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass., this convent in Nashville, Tenn., is seeing more vocations than at any time in recent years. To those of you (I wasn’t a Catholic yet) who survived faithfully the abuse scandal early in this decade, these numbers, these vocations, have to be extraordinarily heartening. God bless these young women and men! Read more

September 9, 2009

Like Fr. Jim Martin in My Life with the Saints, I find St. Joan of Arc one of the most compelling figures in history. Her story is true, testified to by not one but two trials. Please check out this book review from Ignatius Insight and judge for yourself. A fine review of what looks like a beautiful book. I’ve used this image before: Jules Bastien-LePage’s painting of Joan, which hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York... Read more


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