No Time to Despair This is no time to despair. Lord knows, it's a temptation. It's a great temptation. The last couple of years particularly have forced even the naive among us to face up to the corruption in our society. Government institutions and private institutions alike (and very often, in concert) have abandoned their … Continue reading This Is No Time to Despair
Gabriel’s Annunciation and Mary’s Renunciation
Gabriel's Annunciation and Mary's Renunciation Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,and shall name him Emmanuel,which means “God is with us!” (Isaiah 7:14) Gabriel's Annunciation There's something that doesn't seem to make sense at first in today's Gospel reading (Luke 1:26-38). Here's the … Continue reading Gabriel’s Annunciation and Mary’s Renunciation
More Than a Building: A Church is Much, Much More
More Than a Building: Red Mass at the Basilica of St.s Peter and Paul, Lewiston, Maine (https://www.sunjournal.com/) Christ is Our Model in All Things In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . … Continue reading More Than a Building: A Church is Much, Much More
The Baptism of the Lord: the Mission Begins
We welcomed our Lord at Christmas and now, as he takes up his mission, our mission is to follow him, that all righteousness may be fulfilled.
10th Day of Christmas: The Christ Child and St. Genevieve
Merry Christmas! Today is the 10th Day of Christmas, as we continue to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Creator as a little human child. It is helpful when we think about the meaning of the Nativity to remember that our ancestors generally did not fully share our sentimentality towards children.
Christ is King of All . . . Even The Holidays
Christ is King of All We know that Christ is "King of All," but do we know what that means? So Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I … Continue reading Christ is King of All . . . Even The Holidays
Agnus Dei from Haydn’s Missa in Tempore Belli
Spiritual Warfare has been a theme in a number of my posts recently, and for good reason: while the struggle "against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12) is always with us, it has been causing more … Continue reading Agnus Dei from Haydn’s Missa in Tempore Belli
Giuseppe Sarti’s ‘Now the Powers of Heaven’ and Rublev’s ‘Holy Trinity’
Giuseppe Sarti Those of us in the West who have heard of the Italian composer Giuseppe Sarti most likely know about him through the tribute paid by another composer: in Mozart's Don Giovanni Don Juan listens to an air from Sarti's opera Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode as the old rake enjoys his … Continue reading Giuseppe Sarti’s ‘Now the Powers of Heaven’ and Rublev’s ‘Holy Trinity’
God, We Praise You – Domenico Scarlatti’s “Te Deum” and Raphael’s “Disputation of the Holy Sacrament”
Domenico Scarlatti In the teaching world we have a saying: "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree". In other words, when we meet the parents, we often understand why our students are the way they are (my lovely bride often quotes this back to me when one of our children does something particularly egregious … Continue reading God, We Praise You – Domenico Scarlatti’s “Te Deum” and Raphael’s “Disputation of the Holy Sacrament”
Whose Standard? St. Ignatius Loyola
Whose Standard Do You Follow? "Whose Standard?" That is the question posed by St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. But first, would I be out of line to say that the Society of Jesus is not what it used to be? I don't want to be a Jebbie basher: I have studied under and … Continue reading Whose Standard? St. Ignatius Loyola