DeJak
(A Lack of) VIRTUS
The COVID-19 corona virus has really shown who can man up, and who waits for the government to tell them what to do…
Wanted: Intellectually Competent Bishops and Priests
In the opinion of this writer, one of the most evident marks of decline in the Church in the past 50 years has been the virtual non-existence of an authentic intellectual life in seminaries and among the episcopate. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to chart the decline of the intellectual capacity of the clergy (and…
God’s Pursuit of Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J….and Each of Us
I suspect every person—at one point in his life or another—has a moment when he reflects on where he’s been, where he is, and muses at where he might be going. Similarly, I suspect that each person also has a moment where he reflects (or even agonizes) on what might have been if another path…
Memory and Imagination
As a boy growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, I must say—quoting Evelyn Waugh’s description of his own youth—that “I had an idyllic childhood.” At the end of our street was Lake Erie and as kids, my friends and I would go swimming, fishing, sneaking around the backyards and beaches of the rich people whose houses…
Stargazing
Looking at the stars is, perhaps, the single best way to excite the imagination–i.e., to wonder. I can think of no other human activity that commands the attention of both body and soul. It is something that causes a person to both consider his beginning and his end.
Guarding Our Shrines as An Act of Political Realism
Ours is an era of both functional atheism as well as spiritual immaturity. When recent attacks occurred in France and Germany, it was amazing to read on my Twitter feed how many people shunned the notion of praying for the victims or for the countries involved. Perhaps most Twitter users are more of the secular…
Legitimate Islam
In his Regensburg Address, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a Byzantine Emperor’s statements on Islam and considered his words rather “brusque” for modern ears; but I don’t think the pope ever criticized the content of those words as being untruthful. Unfortunately, today has proven once again the accuracy of Emperor Manuel Palaeologus’s observations. Mohammedan terrorists have once again…
Feast Day Ramblings
I admit it. I’m a decadent Roman. While I admire my friends of the Oriental Catholic persuasion who celebrate “Cheesefare Sunday” today in preparation for Lent (and have already whittled away their meat intake a week ago), I myself will hold out until Ash Wednesday to begin my fasting. Indeed, on this last Sunday before Lent, the burying of the “Alleluia” is…
Epiphany House Blessing
It’s that time of year again to re-consecrate our families and homes to Our Lord! This blessing is needed today for those who celebrate in dioceses in the United States. For the Pope and those in the rest of Christendom, you may use this on January 6! Either way, commemorate the coming of the Magi and recognize the…
The Cosmic Battle, Two Pontiffs, and a Novena
Is it weird to have a favorite holy water font? Well, I do. I’m weird. In the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls–not far from the place where the Apostle was buried after being decapitated for the crime of not losing his head–stands a very curious holy water font. The casual Roman parishioner at St. Paul’s has likely seen this…
