Posts
Footnote 38: Upside Down Catholics
Upside Down Catholics: Isn’t it curious that many Catholics who insist that the Church adopt their left-wing political agenda are the same dissidents who refuse to embrace the Church’s magisterial teachings?
Same Sex Marriage: When Two Can Never Be One
The term oxymoron is derived for a Greek phrase meaning “pointedly foolish.” And that is exactly what the talk about same-sex “marriage” amounts to, for it contains within itself a contradiction as great, say, as the idea would be for motionless football or batless baseball [ed. note: or baseball card packs without bubble gum]. Were…
Baseball Cards Without Bubble Gum, 20 Years On
I recall finding out, to my horror, in the early 1990s, that Topps Baseball Card packages were no longer including their trademark brittle piece of gum that had been a mainstay of American boys’ youth since the late 1940s and early 1950s. At the time, my card collecting days were over but they were not for my…
From Under the Rubble…The Gibbons Legacy
American Church (Russell Shaw: Ignatius Press, 2013; $16.95) Deep in the heartland of Indiana, nestled below the main altar of Sacred Heart Basilica on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, there lies a crypt housing a small altar, a few pews, a baptismal font, and the tomb of Orestes Brownson, one of the most…
If that was yesterday… Marriage catechism needs updated
From the old Baltimore Catechism… My how times have changed… That’s not even scratching the surface of Our Lord’s words: Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, Made them male and female? (Matt. xix. 4). Yet, people have hinged all their happiness on the idea that marriage is something different….
Needed: Catholic Cab Drivers and Bartenders
Some years back–in an interview on EWTN–Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, was addressing some of the pressing needs of the Church. He said–and I paraphrase–“we need Catholic cab drivers and bartenders.” It was a comment that elicited a chuckle, but the truth of it was very serious and speaks to the way the Church understands…
Footnote 37: Negotiating With the Church
Negotiating With The Church: When people challenge the magisterial teachings of the Church and offer views that are diametrically opposed, should the Church meet them halfway in the spirit of “Consensus”?
Some People think ‘Losing Their Head’ is the Way to Imitate John the Baptist
Was John the Baptist a mere political activist, speaking truth to power? Why did St. john the Baptist survive death threats when Peter wilted at mere questions from bystanders? How and what can we learn from St. John the Baptist on his feast? What does he tell us about religious liberty?
Acrobats, Daredevils, and … “Thank You, Jesus”?
This evening, Discovery Channel aired a two hour special wherein Nik Wallenda walked across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope, with no fall protection. The Wallenda family is several generations deep of acrobats, and tight wire performances. They aren’t amateurs at this sort of performance, but I was taken aback by something different. Besides Joel Osteen being…
From Under the Rubble…Authority and Its Discontents
Some forty years ago, in his groundbreaking study, Twilight of Authority, sociologist Robert Nisbet observed a disturbing trend in American culture. As respect for authority had declined among the population, he wrote, members of that population became increasingly willing to accept and actually applaud an increasingly powerful, albeit less legitimate, government. The notion of true authority, Nisbet…
