“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of every human being.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Many of the headlines and pundits over the past 20-30 years state the same mantra, that “this country has lost its moral compass”, or that we…
A Review of Alex Berenson’s “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence” Over the past 35 years we have seen a sea-change in attitudes on recreational marijuana drug use. According to Pew Research an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (91%) say marijuana should be legal either for medical or recreational use…
Ernest preachers use their personalities to lead people to Jesus without obstructing him with themselves. They may honestly boast that they have been given the best information to convey, and we have it in the form of what we call the Bible—that is, the Biblia, or Books. At the start of Lent, our Lord makes…
I used to dread Ash Wednesday because of the endless lines of people coming for ashes. By the end of the day, priests look like coal miners. Sociologists may condescendingly consider the phenomenon of crowds coming for ashes, when they do not enter a church at other times of the year, a habit of tribal…
In case you haven’t noticed, we are in a big year for Texas and national politics – it’s election season. Here are some questions to ponder: How can I best know for whom to vote? As a Catholic, are there some voting guidelines we can follow? What authority do Church leaders have regarding politics…
The Philadelphia Inquirer, CNA, CBJ—Archbishop Charles Chaput has been a diocesan bishop for 31 years. For most of that time, his people have known where to find him on Sunday afternoon or evening: Hearing confessions and offering Mass at Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Chaput celebrated his last Sunday Mass as a…
The names of the Franciscan friars Berard of Carbio, Otho, Peter, Accursius and Adjutus, are not as familiar as that of Francis of Assisi, who said that they had become the prototypes of what he called the Friars Minor. After his own failed mission to convert the Muslims of Egypt during the Fifth Crusade in 1219,…
Luke the Evangelist is the patron saint of artists because he paints pictures with words. In describing the scene of old Simeon in the Temple encountering Jesus, Luke wrote that he “took him up in his arms” (Luke 2:28). That word picture of an old man holding a forty-day-old baby, reminds one of the 1490…
The Feast of the Presentation recalls the old man Simeon chanting thanks for having lived to see the Messiah. His “Nunc Dimittis”—“Let thy servant depart in peace”—is part of the Church’s evening prayers. In 542 in Constantinople, the Emperor Justinian placed it into the Eastern Liturgy. This year the Feast fell on Super Bowl Sunday.…
Precisely one year ago in the Italian town of Cremona, there was an imposed silence by order of the local government for eight hours a day, six days of the week for five straight weeks. The purpose was to allow the pristine recording by highly technical equipment of sounds played on the 1700 Antonio Stradivari…
I still believe in New Year’s Resolutions. There are those who say don’t worry about New Year’s Resolutions because you don’t keep them anyway. My view is (1) even if you do not keep them they have caused you to think about where you need improvement in your life, and (2) whatever positive outcome occurs…
While I suspect that Julian Guthrie, author of Alpha Girls: The women who took on Silicon Valley’s male culture and made the deals of a lifetime, intended to show how four women “broke through” the “glass ceiling” in elite Silicon Valley venture firms and disrupted its “boys network,” I found the value of this book…
I knew an elderly Scotswoman who read the Bible each night by the light of a candle. It had become a kind of ritual, for everyone needs a rite, including those reared in the stark Calvinist kind of worship of her homeland Kirk. While she did all of her other reading by electric light, the…
Prophets proclaim the truth, and they predict the future only in a derivative sense of cautioning about the consequences of denying the truth. Thus, the Church distinguishes between holy prophesying and sinful fortune-telling. There is a “psychic” near our rectory, who will tell your future for $10, but you have to ring the bell first,…
Christine Watkins is a remarkable woman who has become one of today’s most important Catholic authors. “The Warning: Testimonies and Prophecies of the Illumination of Conscience” is her seventh book and is a top bestseller in Mysticism and Catholic Theology. Her primary interest is spiritual transformation, which is rooted in her own transformation, a story…
Who the “Wise Men” were is a recurring question for inventive debate, but the point is that these sophisticated scholars were from “a foreign country.” Here in Manhattan, tourists can be annoying when they stop suddenly to look at a novel sight. But they also do us the favor of noticing what we take for…
January 6, 2020
This article was originally posted December 29, 2015 yet it is especially relevant today after recent (Sunday, December 27, 2020) kidnapping at gunpoint of Bishop Moses Chikwe, Auxiliary Bishop of Nigeria’s Archdiocese of Owerri, and his driver, both of whom were released two days ago by Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. 12/29/15—Nigerian Bishop Oliver Dashe…
I have long been of the opinion that preachers should avoid allusions to the painting “The Light of the World” by William Holman Hunt. This is not because it is inferior in any way. It is a tour de force of an artist’s craft and a prime example of the Pre-Raphaelite school that he began…
CNA—Bishop James Conley announced Friday that he is taking a medical leave of absence from his ministry as Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska. “I have been medically diagnosed with depression and anxiety, along with chronic insomnia and debilitating tinnitus, which is a constant ringing of the ears,” Conley wrote in a Dec. 13 letter to Catholics…
Christmas is my favorite holiday and season of the year. Music adds so much to the magic of Christmas. We know that the first Christmas was the miracle of Christ’s birth to the Virgin Mary for the salvation of souls – God’s gift to the whole world of His only son Jesus Christ. Music lifts…
