This coming Thursday is the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord . . . at least in many dioceses (and of course, wherever the traditional liturgical calendar is followed). It may not surprise you, if you are a regular reader of this blog, that I'm not a fan of moving important feasts like Ascension Thursday … Continue reading J.S. Bach – Lobet Gott in Seinen Reichen (from the Ascension Oratorio)
What Do We Do When Our Priest Is A Communist? (Part II)
Our culture has become toxic, and it is actively hostile to Christian belief and practice. Not only that, the toxicity has infected a large part of the institutional Church. What can we do if leaving the Catholic Church itself is not an option?
A Modern Tertullian: Merton for Better and for Worse
Despite his enormous achievements, however, and his lasting influence, Tertullian is not considered a Father of the Church; we don’t even call him “Saint” Tertullian: he chose, sadly, to follow his own judgment rather than that of the Apostolic Church, and fell into heresy in the latter part of his life.
What Do We Do When Our Priest Is A Communist? (Part I)
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68) Your parish priest? We live in scary times. It looks like our secular institutions in the West are collapsing, to be replaced by mob rule (which really means, as always, a tyranny of the elite who manipulate the mob). More frightening still … Continue reading What Do We Do When Our Priest Is A Communist? (Part I)
We Are More Than What We Do: St. Joseph the Worker
They say that necessity is the mother of invention but, as today's feast of St. Joseph the Worker shows us, sometimes measures taken for practical purposes can point to deeper truths. Pope Pius XII The memorial of St. Joseph the Worker is a very recent addition to the liturgical calendar. Pope Pius XII, who wanted … Continue reading We Are More Than What We Do: St. Joseph the Worker
Music for the Easter Season: Regina Caeli, by Gregor Aichinger
The Regina Caeli ("Queen of Heaven") is a prayer that is closely associated with Easter. We usually recite this prayer instead of the Angelus during the Easter Season, at which time it also serves as the the Marian Antiphon at the end of Compline (Night Prayer). The beautiful musical setting for the Regina Caeli below … Continue reading Music for the Easter Season: Regina Caeli, by Gregor Aichinger
What We Owe to Caesar
Deciding how to balance what we really owe to Caesar with what we owe to God is a perennial issue for a believing Christian. In the age of Covid and related governmental tomfoolery that question has become, let us say, even more acute. T
Why the Church is not a Granfalloon
The point is that the Church doesn't exist as a community for the sake of the community itself, it exists to bring us into communion with the Trinitarian God. Even fundamentally good and essential communities such as the family can't do that.
Music for the Easter Season: Pedro Camacho’s Te Deum
I have always appreciated the way the Te Deum does so much so succinctly. In just a few lines we are reminded of the sweep of Salvation History, the Communion of Saints, the Doctrine of the Trinity, the Mission of Jesus Christ from Bethlehem to the New Jerusalem, and all in the form of a joyful song of praise to our God.
God’s Existence isn’t a Dark Matter
Like Dark Energy, God cannot be measured with scientific instruments . . . but his effects are very clear.