Regular Contributions
The God of Wonder & Our Lady of Guadalupe
For those who are paying attention, God can really blow our minds sometimes. Take for example, St. John Paul II. Many know that the young Karol Wojtyla was an actor as a young man. He performed in numerous plays by the Polish Romantic playwright Juliusz Slowacki. The work of Slowacki was popular with budding artists…
Man-Made Climate Change has Nothing to do with Nature Videos
This week there was a nature show projected on the face of St. Peter’s in the Vatican. I agree with many of the criticisms of the event, most importantly because St. Peter’s square is recognized worldwide as the place from which the Pope and the Church speak on the things of God. Sure, nature is creation and…
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…
Celebrating Advent
The season of Advent marks the beginning of the Church’s liturgical calendar, anticipating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, the advent of our Lord began with the Annunciation. St. Louis de Montfort says in True Devotion to Mary: “God the Holy Spirit formed Jesus Christ in Mary, but only after having asked…
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel: Advent 2015
Today is the First Sunday of Advent. Here is an excerpt on the meaning of Advent: In Advent, the Greek Church celebrates particularly the ancestors of Our Lord–all the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament, but especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Latin Church also mentions them often in this period. In the Breviary, many texts are…
Refugees, Immigration, and Catholic Discourse
I think it might be a general experience that Thanksgiving Day tends to bring extended families together more than even Christmas Day. I’m not sure why this is or whence this came about. My own recollections of Thanksgiving as a kid take me to my grandparents’ basement where two long tables were spread with all the fixings. It…
Tempting Akita’s Fire: AmChurch Wreckovations, Hare Krishnas, and Tokyo St. Ignatius Removes Kneelers
Back in the 90s, I remember seeing images of then Archbishop Rembert Weakland donning a miter that bore an upside down triangle with a rainbow and a rainbow chasuble. During those years, it was common to hear rumors of Churches being “renovated” and the end result being white washed interiors and sanctuaries being leveled and converted…
The “Banquet Celebration” Mass is the Tail Wagging the Kasper Dog
Yesterday, I posted a longish post that got into the problem I see with some of the voices of the recent Synod of Bishops. Particularly, those who seem so concerned with providing a path to Holy Communion for divorced and remarried couples as well as some that wanted to figure out how to get so-called same sex…
Mealy-Mouthed Secularist Prelates and the Attack on Grace
I’ve been biting my tongue through a lot of the synod and the biggest reason has been that I really did not want to pile onto the mountains of doom being dumped into Catholic discussion. Now that the relatio is out, and now that we see what it says, we wait for Pope Francis to put his…
Fr. Robert J. Araujo, SJ (1948-2015)
This past week saw the passing of another giant of Catholic education and Catholic legal theory: Fr. Robert J. Araujo, SJ. To those in Catholic academe or in the realm of law, Fr. Araujo was a professor’s professor and a lawyer’s lawyer. His credentials and CV read as if he should be placed in the…
