In both baseball and the Church, angry fans could accent the positive...
Some years ago, I wrote a column listing nine reasons why baseball and Catholicism are a natural pair. The lineup included that both feature obscure rules intelligible only to initiates (the infield fly rule and the Pauline privilege, for instance), both are global games especially big right now in Latin America, and both venerate the past. Watching the current squabbles in the States between baseball owners and players which threaten to prevent a post-quarantine season, I guess we should go into extra innings so I can add a tenth similarity.
7 teachings on Hell from St. Thomas Aquinas...
The teachings of the Lord on Hell are difficult, especially in today’s climate. The most difficult questions that arise relate to its eternal nature and how to square its existence with a God who is loving and rich in mercy. First, does God love the souls in Hell? Yes. How could they continue to exist if He did not love them, sustain them, and continue to provide for them? God loves because He is love...
Meet Elena, who was called from Wicca into the Catholic Church...
Elena used to meditate by herself, worshiping the five elements and a pagan goddess, but she longed for more community. The coven, before they would admit her, asked that she research another religion besides Wicca first. Elena chose to read Christianity’s Gospels thinking she would be able to easily dismiss them. However, to her surprise...
Go to Confession! The devil loves self-excusers, but he hates self-accusers...
How to speak like a Christian (and not like a fool, a bully, or a buffoon)...
“A fool’s gun is soon fired,” wrote Charles Spurgeon, quoting an old proverb. He explained: “He has little to say, but he is in a desperate hurry to say it.” Here are some of the great preacher’s insights on how Christians should speak. He wasn’t aways so sharp. But he knew that Jesus teaches that what comes out of the mouth can defile a man. How we speak has eternal significance. And with Facebook and Twitter...
The biases of a Royal Commission...
A brief dip into Latin helps us understand how preconceptions can lead to biased judgments that falsify history — as they did when an Australian Royal Commission on sexual abuse recently impugned the integrity of Cardinal George Pell. The Latin maxim is quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur – literally, “what is received is received according to the mode [or manner, or condition] of the receiver.”
Pope’s Wednesday Audience: “Discover the riches hidden in the Sacred Heart of Jesus”...
“But Gorsuch” crashes at the Supreme Court. Now watch for “Utah” references in news reports...
It’s no surprise that mainstream news reports about the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling on LGBTQ rights for secular workers included a strong note of celebration. To the victors go the spoils and this was a big win for the cultural left and, one can only assume, the new middle America — as defined by the Harvard and Yale law schools. The unanswered question hanging over all of this was, of course...
Are you a slave to fashion?
I don’t have any strong objection to men dressing according to the fashions of the 12th or 13th century if they happen to live in the 12th or 13th century. I assume the gentleman in the picture thought that he was looking pretty dapper. He lived in a time when the clothing fashions were perhaps a little extravagant and this fellow looks like he can afford it. My guess is that he thought he was approximating something on the side of the beautiful...
The spirituality and mission of a Benedictine Oblate...
Meet the dad who’s teaching basic skills on YouTube for kids without a father figure...
Of hidden manna and a shining stone: A meditation on a text from the Book of Revelation...
Dutch doctor euthanized dementia patient despite being told ‘no’...
Audrey Donnithorne, who died in Hong Kong on June 8, was a woman of valor...
Catholic composer David Haas accused of ‘sexual battery’ and ‘spiritual manipulation’...
The open questions on the Vatican financial scandals...
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Amsterdam isn’t just Europe's ‘sin city’ — it’s the Eucharistic heart of the Netherlands...
The loss of Catholic schools would be an American tragedy...
Earlier this week, I delivered a graduation message to the Class of 2020 — virtually. It was posted on YouTube and shared on social media. Another sign of these unusual times since the coronavirus. My prayer is that the Class of 2020 will be remembered as a heroic generation that used the gifts of a Catholic education to love and serve and build a better world at a time of national distress, when society had been turned upside down by a deadly pandemic and faced widespread uncertainty about the future.
God’s antidote for the sobering state of Catholicism in the United States...
There is no arguing with the data, and the facts are sobering (and sad) - most self-identified Catholics in the USA live like those who have no faith. They say they are Catholics and live like they are pagans. The statistics tell part of the story. These numbers tell us that most who identify as “Catholic” do not know, believe, or live as someone who has met Jesus, been transformed by him, and are now trying their best to follow him.
During segregation, these Dominican sisters established the first interracial monastery — in Alabama...
One day, Mother Mary of Jesus, cloistered Dominican nun, had a vision. While in the monastery garden, she saw a scene of a race riot unfold before her. The sight was a violent one, with people of different races engaged in struggle. Then Mother Mary of Jesus, who was white, saw a dark-skinned friar approaching the crowd. He was clad in the Dominican habit and holding a rosary...
The Church: milquetoast or militant?
The need for Catholics to understand the aspect of the Church being militant is greater than ever. With confusion, fear, deception and lies swirling about us we need clear voices and real action from Catholics, but instead of the Church Militant we too often get the Church Milquetoast. The name of this blog is “Standing on My Head” because one of my aims is to stand people’s perceptions and biases on their heads...
During these trials, let it not be said that we have forgotten God...
On the power of the Fatima prayer, which is recited during the Rosary...
Villagers in India kill Christian teenage convert after accusing him of “witchcraft”...
No matter how hard you try, your brain won’t let you see all 12 dots in this image...
Life lessons: Four pillars, and the Three Little Pigs...
Overcome evil with good: The temptations of our time and the spirit of Christ...
If the sacraments aren’t essential, nothing is essential...
Last year, I wrote a column arguing that if priests and bishops refuse to stand up for the Sacrament of Matrimony, they will eventually grow reluctant to stand up for the other sacraments as well. I sorely hoped I would be wrong. With some of the clerical responses to COVID-19, however, that’s a prediction that has come true in ways far worse than I could have imagined.
From Mormon deacon to Catholic deacon...
Bishop Zanchetta returns to work at the Vatican amid abuse trial in Argentina...
Pope Francis names lay finance expert as secretary of APSA...
On the ministry of angels in creation...
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