Manos
So you want to Re-evangelize? Catch Abbot Nicholas on EWTN Live tonight
Tonight, on EWTN Live, abbot Nicholas of the Holy Resurrection Monastery in Wisconsin will be the guest. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at my parish this past weekend. His topics were on Christian mysticism, re-evangelization, ethnic and church traditions, and similar topics. I was particularly interested in the re-evangelization topic as I…
Father Hardon on St. Joseph: the Secret of True Love
On this solemn feast of St. Joseph, it is good to have a reminder of just who the saint really is. What follows is a short snippet from a lecture by Fr. John Hardon: Saint Joseph deserves our admiration for his other virtues, but, he is to be especially imitated in his love for Jesus 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…
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…
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…
Catholic Dictionary: Menticide?
I was looking for something recently in my copy of Fr. John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary when I noticed an entry that caught my eye: Menticide. Mind killing. “The systematic effort to break down the beliefs and allegiances of a person by physical or psychological means, in order to substitute one’s own. Also called brain-washing, it…
FEMEN and the Gerasene Demoniac… Full of Devils
News today that Femen has raided a cathedral in Spain. They are screaming “Abortion is sacred.” The woman is naked, has an upside down cross painted on her back, violent, and seems to have a problem with identity, “My name is Femen, for we are many.” I can’t help it but to think of the demoniac…
Cincinnati’s Curious Masonic Church
Cincinnati has long appeared to have a revolving door between the Masonic lodges and the Catholic Church. Having grown up there, I can recall discussions of various people who were both in Knights of Columbus and Masons, and rumors of parishes that were pagan experiments. People talk, and that sort of talk happened way before blogging. In…
