Posts
Ash Wednesday–Station at S. Sabina
The traditional devotion of the Roman Lenten Stations (or the Stational Churches of Rome), allows us to unite our hearts and minds in our Lenten devotions with the Church of Rome as we spiritually visit the ancient churches and basilicas of the City (Stationalium Ecclesiarum Urbis visitatio). For your devotional life this Lent, consider making…
Footnote 64: Subsidiarity
https://media.blubrry.com/bellarmineforumfootnote/bellarmineforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BF-Footnote-Podcast-subsidiarity-021314-df.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe Catholic principle of subsidiarity is fundamental to the governance of the Church, but it is also important to the Natural Law, the Common Law, and, with a unique caveat, to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, where it defends us from intrusion into our home and…
Lent Preparation: Mite Boxes and Almsgiving
Yesterday, I received in the mail a very simple little device: a mite box. Meant to be like a little donations box in the church, the mite box is perfect to be placed in the home during lent in an area where it will be seen as a way to remind us during lent that we…
From Under the Rubble…The Prophet, the President, and the Pope
A critique of the president by a well-known jurist appeared recently in the American Spectator: A man whose self-absorption is legendary, if not pathological… If the head of the most corrupt and malign administration in our history is suffered to remain in office, however crippled, it will be a clear sign that we have turned…
Pope Francis to Bishops: “we do not need a manager, a CEO of a company”
Just today, Pope Francis spoke to the Congregation of Bishops (reported in Italian here). Yesterday, I asked “if the pope will take care of the Vatican, and I will take care of cleaning myself up, who takes care of the middle?” It appears Pope Francis answered that question today! Speaking to the Bishops, he declared:…
PBS Frontline: Secrets of the Vatican – a secular review of the symptoms of error
Yesterday, PBS Frontline ran a show titled, “Secrets of the Vatican” – an hour and a half show. PBS’s own description of the show is as follows: In Secrets of the Vatican, FRONTLINE tells the epic, inside story of the collapse of the Benedict papacy and illuminates the extraordinary challenges facing Pope Francis as he tries…
Lent Preparation: Earn an eternal merit badge this year
I’ve written before on the notion of lent being a time to fast and on the power of fasting to cast demons away. Today, people have totally shifted their concept and consider a fast “too much.” Those who say that have that luxury only today because the Church has mitigated the impact of the second law. Consider…
Footnote 63: Easy Liberalism
https://media.blubrry.com/bellarmineforumfootnote/bellarmineforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BF-Footnote-Podcast-Easy-liberalism-010514-df.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWhy is the media so predictably liberal and anti-Catholic? And why do media “conservatives” and media “Catholics” sound so dumb?
Do the American Bishops hate fasting?
I was shell shocked today by an omission I can hardly believe. At Mass, I heard the Gospel about the possessed boy out of whom the Apostles could not drive the demon. We all know the tale: Our Lord drives the demon out, and the Apostles ask, “Why could we not drive out the demon?” And Our…
From Under the Rubble…Whistling Past the Graveyard of Empires
“1, 2, 3, 4, what’re we fightin’ for?” Old antiwar song. Afghanistan is an old war. Does anyone remember why we’re there? Hamid Karzai knows: we’re there to make him rich, powerful, and – oh yes, we forgot: the leader of a robust, American-imposed Afghan democracy. Are we there yet? Well, it’s a long, hard…
