Commentary
A pontificate marked by contradictions
In his most startling statements, Pope Francis never directly contradicted established Catholic doctrine. But by raising questions about previous teachings, and then remaining silent while more radical clerics proclaimed a change in doctrine, he undermined the traditional teachings.
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Jubilation in Rome’s Eternity
To celebrate Rome today is to toast its secular and sacred histories for all their respective glories, respective failures, and the many conflicts between them. To do so in this Jubilee Year is to rejoice in the enduring power of the divine over finite secular might.
Whether or Not We Like It, Christ is Risen
We believers, atheists and Christians, share the same turmoil in life.. But those of us who actively believe in the Resurrection (and are keenly aware of our responsibilities before God) are less likely to view the world with paralyzing desperation than those with the pious and irrational hope that death ends it all. We fear God, not the actuarial tables.
5.9 St. Anselm of Canterbury: Father of Scholasticism
St. Anselm (1033 - 1109 AD) was Abbot of the monastery of Bec, and later, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the first of the medieval scholastics, and the first real systematic theologian. His treatise, Cur Deus Homo brought together biblical and patristic themes related to salvation and the atonement to provide the Church with a comprehensive (up to that point) teaching on the Incarnation and the Atonement, known as the Satisfaction Theory of Atonement.
Good Friday, good news, and the young
In terms of overall numbers, the situation for the Catholic Church is still pretty dire. But something is happening. And I’m struck by how much of it is motivated by the same things that motivated me forty years ago.
Ghosts of the Chrism Mass
As the Mass unfolded, I gazed upon the young and old heads and remembered the many priests I saw when I was young, but who have gone away. They are ghosts.
Entering the Paschal Triduum
How to follow the Paschal Triduum at home and church with traditions for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Includes liturgy, recipes, printables, paschal candle, eggs, lamb cake, foot washing.
The Eucharist: the ultimate reality
The Eucharistic Sacrifice, extended through time and space in the celebration of the Mass, completes Christ’s work of salvation, and thereby brings meaning to our lives. And when we neglect the historical reality of that Sacrifice, we immediately endanger our own understanding of human existence.
Breaking Habits of Self-Deification
Pilate’s skeptical and cynical remark echoes throughout history: “What is truth?” (Jn. 18:38) The question forms the crossroads of every human path.
Why young Catholics are rejecting feminism, Pt. 3: The feminist echo chamber
Even in their “Catholic” forms, feminism and masculinism exacerbate division between the sexes. This can happen by outright hostility, but also more subtly, with the drifting apart of concerns and mutual defensiveness that result from prioritizing the advancement of one sex. As Ratzinger wrote, “The proper condition of the male-female relationship cannot be a kind of mistrustful and defensive opposition. Their relationship needs to be lived in peace and in the happiness of shared love.”
Beware! The spiritual paradox of not being “everybody”
Whenever Church discipline from the next higher level has been lax, a great many Catholic leaders have made their livings preaching a reconditioned gospel with which the world can resoundingly agree. An even greater number of lay people have commended this practice, though it has never been a source of numerical growth—indeed, quite the opposite. There is great danger in trying to be like everybody else.
The Pope as (im)patient
No doubt other Vatican officials would have argued against his surprise visit to St. Peter’s basilica, and at a minimum insisted that the Pontiff be dressed in his usual regalia. And no doubt the Pope knew that. So he made the excursion without consulting anyone; he took the whole Vatican by surprise.
An economic interpretation of the Gospel
Matthew recounts incidents or images that do not appear in the other gospels. And that only make sense, he remarks, because the “ambitious tax collector—if he was familiar with Roman best practices of accounting, banking, and contracts—would be well placed to see the power of these economic analogies.”
194—The Church’s Hour of Testing—Fr. Donald Haggerty
A great spiritual master of our time, Fr. Donald Haggerty, joins the podcast to discuss his important new book, The Hour of Testing: Spiritual Depth and Insight in a Time of Ecclesial Uncertainty. He offers profound reflections on the ongoing, and perhaps future, crisis within the Church, with an eye to arousing an appetite for the greater spiritual intensity God desires his faithful to live out in this time.
Rule of St. Benedict—Ep. 1 | Foundations of Monastic Life
"And so we are going to establish a school for the service of the Lord. In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But if a certain strictness results… do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation, whose entrance cannot but be narrow."
5.8 St. Anselm of Canterbury: Doctor of the Atonement
St. Anselm (1033 - 1109 AD) was Abbot of the monastery of Bec, and later, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the first of the medieval scholastics, and the first real systematic theologian. In many ways, St. Anselm is the bridge between St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Easter volume released: Free ebook
The Easter volume of our ebook series for this liturgical year has been released in our ebooks download area. This fourth volume in the annual series covers the entire Easter season, from the Easter Vigil through Pentecost. It may be downloaded free of charge in the following formats: .mobi (Kindle), .epub (Nook and other standard ereaders), and .pdf (most computer devices).
Crucifixion darkness: Barabbas (1961)
Barabbas, a unique specimen of the midcentury Hollywood Biblical epic, stars Anthony Quinn as the criminal released by Pilate in place of Christ. It follows Barabbas through a long life in the shadow of the Cross, haunted and struggling to comprehend the meaning of having had his life exchanged for Christ’s. He becomes almost an archetype of human resistance to grace—but in the end, does he nonetheless surrender himself to what he doesn’t understand?
USCCB to Trump: You can’t fire me; I quit
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the USCCB president, said that the decision to end these programs was “heartbreaking.” But the bishops really didn’t have to make a choice at all; the decision had been made for them.
Groupthink Follies
We find groupthink throughout the Scriptures. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of unnatural and malignant groupthink. Groupthink during the Exodus rebelled against Moses and the Lord.
A word to the anti-Trump protesters and their media enablers
Whatever assumption of good faith might have been extended to your arguments against this or that Trump policy, there is going to be a heck of a lot less of it this time around.
Living in the end times does not give us a pass
For me the issue is to find more effective ways of evangelizing among Christians no longer used to evangelizing. Moreover, we must also understand that—while we should certainly engage in evangelization—some periods and places do seem to be largely impervious to the Gospel until there have been a good many martyrs. As Tertullian put it about 1800 years ago, the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. Our Lord put this another way: “For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’”
Why young Catholics are rejecting feminism, Pt. 2: The magisterium
Catholic feminists are seldom willing to engage seriously with the full scope of Church teaching on their favorite issues, like authority in marriage and mothers working outside the home. Instead, they quote the same snippets of St. John Paul II, but do not read him carefully in continuity with prior popes. Thus they inevitably feel frustrated that young tradition-seeking Catholics aren’t getting with the feminist program.
Is Catholic Charities really Catholic? (Don’t ask the Supreme Court)
The state of Wisconsin found that the activities of the Catholic Charities Bureau are indistinguishable from those of any other secular charity. Is that true? The Supreme Court seemed disinclined to examine that question. Catholic donors might think differently.
Why Gen X Catholicism is a fighting faith
Most of our lifetime occurred during a brief sweet spot where it seemed like the post-Vatican II Church had stabilized and might even re-evangelize the West. Then it got weird again.
The Conundrum of Family Pastoral Care
The prodigal son needs to do some soul-searching. The elder son needs to learn the lesson from Cain. He is indeed his brother’s keeper. Dad needs to fine-tune the techniques of fatherly discipline.
The Catholic Role in the American Founding
If our Constitution is inadequate to the challenges of today, then— if the centrifugal forces unleashed by unlimited individual choice have torn that moral consensus asunder— maybe the fault lies not with the Constitution itself, but with the religious authorities who should have kept our moral foundations intact. Perhaps it is not the political, but the religious “sword” that needs sharpening.
Genuine courage: Not as the world gives
The scandal given by those among the Church’s ministers who either ignore or deny the teachings of Christ, as these teachings can be known definitively only through the Church He founded, has repeatedly gone uncorrected under the current pontificate, a situation which breeds confusion precisely among those Catholics who are most at risk—those who are eager for any opportunity to pretend that Christ has not established what He has established, and has not taught what He has taught.
193—On René Girard—Trevor Cribben Merrill
Mimetic desire, scapegoating: if you've been hearing these terms thrown around lately, it's because the French Catholic philosopher René Girard (1923-2015) is having a renaissance, with powerful people like J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel citing his influence on their thought. Trevor Cribben Merrill, producer of the new documentary Things Hidden: The Life and Legacy of René Girard, joins the podcast to discuss Girard's principal ideas.
Fava Beans and St. Joseph Altars
March 19 is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the patron of the Universal Church. The St. Joseph Altar is a way to honor the saint. Virtual St. Joseph altar website and new children's book "Giovanni and the Fava Beans" by Joseph P. Ruli published by Word on Fire reviewed.
Flashback: The Empty Square
All through Rome—and soon, all around the world—Catholic churches had closed their doors. In a stunning development, without any precedent in the history of the Church, the faithful were prevented from attending the Mass, barred from the sacraments, not by secular persecutors but by the choice of their own bishops.
Has the American Experiment Failed?
Some tradition-minded Catholics seem to derive great satisfaction from the thought that America was always on the wrong path. That attitude, I contend, is not only un-American; it is also un-Catholic.
5.7 St. Peter Damian: Monitor of the Popes
St. Peter Damian (1007 - 1072 AD) was an advisor to, and sometimes corrector of, Popes, Emperors, and Kings. Through his writings he was a reformer of the clergy, and the monasteries, especially calling out and confronting immorality among the clergy. He was a member of the first college of cardinals as we know it today, and took part in wrestling away from royals and nobles the power to appoint Popes, restoring the process of papal elections.
Why young Catholics are rejecting feminism, Pt. 1
Using Gordon as her foil allows Bachiochi to frame the Catholic debate over feminism as a conflict between Church teaching and online reactionaries, while ignoring legitimate challenges to feminism, including from the Church’s own recent magisterium. Many young Catholics who oppose feminism do not reject the teachings of Pope St. John Paul II on the equal dignity of women. They want to reappropriate the fulness of traditional Catholic teaching, reading recent teachings in light of the whole.
Intrinsically Evil Acts and Repentance
Indeed, there are many devout Muslims who, with God’s grace, would make faithful Catholics to replace us. (Are you listening, Western Civilization?)
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