Commentary
Why aren’t there more Catholic Bibles?
The Catholic apologetics movement of the last several decades has done incredible work to better educate lay Catholics in our faith. One mountain still to climb, though, is to get Catholics to buy Bibles in as large a number as our separated brethren do, and to read them. Why is the Protestant Bible-selling market so much more gigantic than the Catholic one?
No, your parish is not ‘vibrant’
Is your parish or diocese oscillating or pulsating rapidly? No. Nor should it. So why is the word “vibrant” invoked with such mind-numbing frequency to describe Catholic communities?
Angel Studios: questioning the hype
In just four short years, Angel Studios has become a household name among Christians, and for some it represents the cutting edge of religious cinema. But does the distributor of The Chosen, Sound of Freedom, and Cabrini really merit the hype?
God’s justice or God’s mercy?
The line between depending on God’s mercy and seeking to conform ourselves ever more fully to God’s will can often be hard to cross. Or, to put it another way, even devout souls are far more likely to pray for God’s mercy for “sinners” or “poor sinners”, considered as a category in which we do not include ourselves—except perhaps by rote in the Our Father and the Hail Mary.
Priests Preaching Politics
The words of Jesus are often harsh, and apply to all of us who, like the Pharisees, take sinful pride in our religiosity.
Are missionaries agents of colonialism?
Do Christian missionaries demand government intervention and insist on forcible conversion? Do they try to make those they serve dependent on tobacco, or drugs, or sensual pleasures, or even watered-down baby formula? Do the break up families to create docile work forces? Do they use their converts for pleasure, personal enrichment or political gain?
A ‘grave sin’? Balancing the Pope’s statement on migration
Pope Francis could cool down the passions that he has stirred, and advance the public debate, if he would convey— in full— the Catechism’s teaching on migration.
Papias of Hierapolis and the Book of Revelation
Dr. Papandrea introduces one of the “apostolic fathers,” Papias of Hierapolis. We only have fragments of his writings, but those fragments started a controversy over the authorship of the book of Revelation and the Johannine letters. Papias is a good example of how the Church fathers, as individuals, were not right about everything.
Veils in Church: Style, threat, or testimony?
In some places it may take not only piety but a bit of courage to wear a veil in Church (even if the “veils” of which we are speaking are not of the sort that cover the face). If I am reading the cultural signals correctly, I would say that in most cases wearing a veil is a feminine statement of reliance on God’s plans and not those of the dominant culture—not those of this world.
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
The 1991 film A Brighter Summer Day, directed by Edward Yang, is considered by many one of the best movies ever made. Set in Taiwan shortly after the Chinese Civil War, this incredibly textured four-hour drama gives the sense of a whole uneasy social fabric.
Give the Pharisees their due
Natural piety, then, gives rise to an appreciation for what our ancestors have left us. We may come to criticize some things that they did, and we certainly expect to make some improvements. But our default assumption is that they knew what they were doing.
Trump: The lesser of two evils is a moral choice
For those who may be reluctant to vote for President Trump because he has so many obvious deficiencies, despite his previous pro-life efforts which included appointing Justices who reversed Roe vs. Wade, it is important to recognize our moral obligations with respect to the lesser of two evils.
Final Liturgical Year volume for 2023-24 available now
Our liturgical year ebooks include all the liturgical day information for each season just as it appears on CatholicCulture.org. These offer a rich set of resources for families to use in living the liturgical year in the domestic church. Resources include biographies of the saints to match each feast day, histories of the various celebrations and devotions, descriptions of customs from around the world, prayers, activities and recipes.
182—Duruflé’s Requiem w/ Christopher Berry
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) was one of the greatest sacred composers of the 20th century, best known for his Requiem and his motet "Ubi caritas". His lush and tranquil choral and organ works combine a deep familiarity with Gregorian chant with the style of impressionism, imbued with a sense of prayer as he was a devout Catholic.
Holy Gimmicks
Without subsequent events, the miraculous multiplication of the loaves in isolation is a special-effects gimmick.
What makes a good bishop and a good diocese? A case study.
From the outside, of course, this looks like a perfect storm of success built by applying Catholic fidelity to a population which was growing, perhaps largely because of the diocese’s proximity to Washington, DC. But that alone does not explain the sound Catholic schools, the many beautiful new churches built throughout the diocese, or the reverent and uplifting liturgies that are so common here.
Pope St. Gelasius I—Famuli Vestrae Pietatis: On the Two Swords
"For there are two, O emperor Augustus, by which the world is principally ruled: the sacred authority of pontiffs and the royal power."
Leading prayers for the culture of death
No doubt Archbishop Listecki could have given Republican politicians a stronger reminder that souls as well as votes are at stake when we ponder the meaning of the “pursuit of happiness.” But Cardinal Cupich faced a much greater challenge when he addressed the Democratic crowd in Chicago.
Providence or mere politics? On the rebellion against Being
In every ideological regime, it is a matter of urging people to join the “enlightened” side in order to achieve “social perfection”. Those who join are happy to feel a part of something big and wonderful. Those who do not are marginalized, relegated to the outer darkness. They are considered so backward as to no longer be worthy of consideration.
Avoiding the Excesses of Materialism and Spiritualism
The sacraments do not form a superstructure of our existence, as if our daily lives stand apart from our spiritual lives. The sacraments restore and elevate human nature.
The Olympic spirit, RIP
The joy of sports, St. Thomas would tell us, comes in the play itself, not in the results: not in the prospect of fame and endorsement and a professional contract, not even in winning a gold medal.
Six inspiring books to jump-start your inner evangelist
At least for many people, who are inundated with words expressing this or that “point of view”, a kind of lived authenticity—especially an obviously sacrificial authenticity—is going to be noticed in a fresh way, a way that is not just more words and arguments, a way illuminated by a light that is not yet directly seen. As true as this is, it is also true that Christ is the Word, and to draw others to Him, at some point we need to use words.
The ‘self-referential’ Synod
As we move toward the culminating event of what was once expected to be a reforming papacy, the action in Rome is more inward-looking, more “self-referential,” than ever.
4.18 The Heresies—Series Conclusion: So, What is Orthodoxy?
Throughout this series, Dr. Papandrea has been outlining the major heresies of the early Church, defining them in contrast to the orthodoxy of mainstream Catholicism. So after all of this, what can we say about orthodoxy (correct doctrine) in general? How do we know it when we see it, and how to we define it? What is the role of orthodoxy in the development of doctrine and the tradition of the Church?
Sacred Scripture’s rhetorical power
There is great beauty and rhetorical power in Scripture, for all the difficulty St. Augustine had initially, when he first adversely compared his ignorant reading of the Biblical books with his deep knowledge of the classical Latin texts. In our case as well, we have generally been taught more thoroughly about everything else than we have about Scripture. Recognizing its rhetorical power may prompt us to read Scripture with greater enjoyment, and more often.
Pope Pius XII on The Ideal Film, Pt. 2 (Church Teaching on Cinema)
“Religious interpretation, even when it is carried out with a right intention, rarely receives the stamp of an experience truly lived and as a result, capable of being shared with the spectator.”
Gossip
Children usually have an abiding sense that some gossip is malicious and violates God’s law. But it seems we become anesthetized to the increasing seriousness of gossip as we grow older.
St. John Damascene—Sermon on the Assumption
"And just as the all-holy body of God's Son, which was taken from her, rose from the dead on the third day, it followed that she should be snatched from the tomb, that the mother should be united to her Son; and as He had come down to her, so she should be raised up to Him."
In our day, is apostolic work impossible?
We may not use our cultural situation as an excuse to avoid evangelization, avoid mission, avoid Christian witness, avoid apostolic work, or avoid bearing witness to the truth in all the ordinary features of our daily lives.
With friends like these....
When we argue that no reasonable moral actor can accept abortion, we are perforce saying that the governor who supports unrestricted legal abortion is unreasonable or immoral or both: he should be shunned, not congratulated.
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