Human Dignity Human dignity has fallen on hard times. Consider this. Suicide is a key image for our culture today. Our society is always looking for new ways to destroy itself. We seem intent on destroying our connections to our forebears, destroying their reputations and even tearing down their statues. Likewise, we reject the classic achievements in … Continue reading Human Dignity and Death
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Music Monday: “Kyrie” From Wanhal’s Missa Pastoralis
One of the wonderful things about having a centuries-deep treasury of sacred music is that there's always more to discover. I was listening to a classical radio station the other day when I was in the car with one of my sons, when a beautiful but unfamiliar composition was playing. "There's a lot going on in … Continue reading Music Monday: “Kyrie” From Wanhal’s Missa Pastoralis
Appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World
This July 4th is the 245th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which grounds the founding of the Unites States in a theological argument: . . . that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the … Continue reading Appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World
There Are No Dead Ends With God (St. Monegundis)
As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20) There are no dead ends with God. Most of us are familiar with the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis, how his … Continue reading There Are No Dead Ends With God (St. Monegundis)
Liturgy Wars: What’s Latin Got To Do With It?
Who would have expected the Glorified Body of Christ, the eternal perfected Body, to include the horrible wounds inflicted on the flesh-and-blood human body here on Earth?
Rossini-Agnus Dei (Petite Messe Solennelle)
Giaochino Rossini Giaochino Rossini was, in his time, considered the most successful composer of operas in history, creating such enduring favorites as The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, and William Tell. Then, having composed an astounding 39 operas before his 37th birthday in 1829, he simply stopped. For the rest of his life, until his … Continue reading Rossini-Agnus Dei (Petite Messe Solennelle)
Practical Apologetics: The Geometry of Faith
outside.” Those of us who have been out and now are in (back in, for some of us) know how true it is. And it stands to reason: as both a worldly and a spiritual entity, the Church cannot be contained within purely physical bounds.
The Bishops, the Politicians, and Abortion: What Would St. John Fisher Do?
You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you. The quote above is often attributed to communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky. There is no record of his actually having said it, but it's widely repeated because it pithily sums up a terrifying truth about the relentlessness of war. In an age when a large … Continue reading The Bishops, the Politicians, and Abortion: What Would St. John Fisher Do?
Music Monday- ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ by Ola Gjeilo
My Monday Music selections are usually compositions from the treasury of Catholic sacred music, some of them centuries old. There are still some composers even today, however, who are composing music worthy of that tradition. A couple months ago I posted a setting to the "Te Deum" by Pedro Camacho. The words to the hymn … Continue reading Music Monday- ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ by Ola Gjeilo
Finding the Future in the Past: Why The Latin Mass is not Going Away
The scene is a parish church. A congregation has assembled for Sunday Mass. The opening hymn begins with a grand flourish. The celebrant processes into the church amid alleluias and mighty blasts from the organ. We reach a mini-climax. The music ends. Then, there is a moment of silence while the celebrant adjusts his microphone. He smiles. And what … Continue reading Finding the Future in the Past: Why The Latin Mass is not Going Away