The Latin Mass is Not Going Away No, the Latin Mass is not going away anytime soon. I say, this, by the way, not as a regular attendee of the pre-Vatican II liturgy. In fact, I've participated in a pre-Vatican II liturgy at most three times over the past nine years. My point is, I'm … Continue reading The Latin Mass is Not Going Away
Endowed by Their Creator
The Publication of the American Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, marks the formal beginning of a great experiment. As Alexander Hamilton put it a decade later during the debate over adopting the new constitution, the question was whether free men, exercising “reflection and choice,” were up to the job.
When Our Priest is a Communist (To Whom Shall We Go?) 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?
To Whom Shall We Go (When Our Priest Is A Communist)? Part I
To Whom Shall We Go? "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, with mob rule on the rise. "Mob rule" really means, of course, a tyranny of the elite … Continue reading To Whom Shall We Go (When Our Priest Is A Communist)? Part I
A Thorny Problem: the Body and Blood of Christ
A Thorny Problem A thorny problem indeed. It’s so hard for us truly to accept that the Infinite God of the Universe could fully inhabit a human body, and be both True God and True Man. I was often reminded of just how thorny a problem this is for us when I used to discuss the … Continue reading A Thorny Problem: the Body and Blood of Christ
Body and Soul, or, When A Church Is Not A Church
We are body and soul. Human beings need material means to approach the immaterial God. The means need to be suited to the end, or we’re liable to go astray. For that reason, destroying the beauty and religious distinctiveness of our churches does real spiritual harm.
Infinite Trinity, Finite Minds
So you and I are in good company if we find TheTrinity challenging. Fortunately, even if the philosophical explanations elude us, we can know the Triune God through the experience of Faith. Thanks be to God. And after all, isn't through experience, and not intellect, that we come to know love?
This Is No Time to Despair
Once one of these buildings no longer serves as a church, it still communicates something of its sacramental character. This is less of a problem if the building remains Church property. But what if it's up for sale?
More Than a Building: What is a Church?
More Than a Building In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . (John 1:1,4) Any truly Christian anthropology needs to start with the Gospel of John, chapter 1. The incorporeal Eternal … Continue reading More Than a Building: What is a Church?
Seen Any Miracles Lately?
Any Miracles At All . . . Well, have you seen any miracles? How many of us would know it if we had? The Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins, whose formation taught him to See God in All Things, wrote: Glory be to God for dappled things – For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; … Continue reading Seen Any Miracles Lately?