Posts
New! Now 36 Doctors of the Church- Armenian Narek added
Surprise! We now have 36 doctors of the Church! Reported today, Pope Francis has named St. Gregory of Narek to be a doctor of the Universal Church. This move is interesting on many levels, partly because of when Narek lived: he was born a mere 58 years before the Great Schism. So his life straddled the oncoming schism, but…
Lent: Crush the heads of invisible dragons
From the Melkite weekday services in Lent, known as the Presanctified Liturgy, the closing prayer: ALMIGHTY LORD who created the whole universe in wisdom; who by your ineffable providence and great goodness have brought us to these salutary days for the purification of our souls and bodies, for the control of our passions and for hope…
Father Hardon on Lent and his 7 Rules of Penance
Fr. Hardon gives the basis of penance as a Divine Law that each of us must do, or perish. We may voluntarily do penance now – with his 7 rules of penance – or forcefully have it done to us later.
Shades of Grey
The Lakeview neighborhood is an attractive area of Chicago’s north side. It seems as if it had always been a popular part of town. Though I didn’t realize it at the time we were dating, my future wife lived on Pine Grove and Diversey–the same street and block where Charlie Chaplin lived 80 years earlier. Typical of the last…
Beware the “Experimental Faith”
At the “Progressive Christian Channel” of patheos.com, Diana Butler Bass’ bio describes herself as an author who regularly comments on religion, politics, and culture in the mainstream media. Among her opus is a 5-session “study” that was co-written with Tim Scorer, “Embracing Spiritual Awakening: Diana Butler Bass on the Dynamics of Experimental Faith.” As one…
Alabama moves to destroy Children
This past Monday, some of the strangest things happened in Alabama, the alleged Bible belt. Out of fear that they were living the Wallace days again — Wallace the one who stood in the doors of the school to block the entrance of black children — many judges rushed to provide so-called marriage licenses to homosexual…
So What is Sexagesima Anyway? (the real secret to easy grace)
I never realized when I studied the Illiad and the Odyssey in latin in high school just how much my perceptions of words from latin were forever changed. I take for granted that latin words sound completely different to someone not familiar with latin. Recently, I was talking to someone and mentioned that Sexagesima Sunday was approaching. They…
Magazine: Building a Culture of Life. Winter 2014, Vol. IV No. 4
Like An Aggressive Cancer… Historically, governments, healthcare personnel, and society in general shared the presumption in favor of life. But no more. A culture of death is spreading like an aggressive cancer, skewing values, twisting beliefs so that the precious gift of life is viewed as disposable like a used coffee filter. What can be…
New McCarthyism is the Invisible Hand against Catholic teaching
It’s unlikely that the actor Gary Sinise, Fox News anchor Bret Baier, and beer magnate Pete Coors didn’t realize that Legatus, an association of observant Catholic business leaders, adheres to Catholic moral teaching when they agreed to speak at an upcoming Legatus Summit. Legatus has been known for Catholic positions on a number of issues, even…
