Truth, by which the world is held together, has sprung from the earth, in order to be carried in a woman’s arms. — St. Augustine Blessed Pope Paul VI, the author of Humanae Vitae, is finally being hailed as somewhat of a prophet. Subject to intense criticism over fifty years ago, Pope Paul argued that support […]
To be a little simplistic, Martin McDonagh’s films tend to be preoccupied with cycles of violence, in which parties retaliate against each other for the hurts they suffer, drawing others into this cycle until somebody tries to end it by accepting the hurt done to him, or, indeed, turning that violence upon himself. In Bruges […]
I live in Portugal and both children and adults watch countless hours of TV a week, I would bet more than in the United States. Some people like to have the TV on constantly “for company” and few children have their TV viewing limited. Most of the TV shows watched in Portugal are American with […]
Most Christians know the story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale but I wonder how many recall just how and why it came about. Jonah got swallowed by the whale because he was a disobedient prophet who rejected his divine commission to tell the people of Nineveh to repent. Jonah was told by God […]
Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon… So don’t listen to him. Remember that – do not listen. -William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist There a is quotation attributed to Eliezer Yudkowski, a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, that periodically makes the social media rounds in memetic form (generally without […]
I can’t say it any better than the Dowager Countess of Grantham: Have we all stepped through the looking glass? Yes, I’m afraid that collectively, as a culture, we have indeed. We no longer seem to recognize the plainly absurd as absurd. Up is down; out is in; wrong is right; insane is normal. I […]
Often Christians lament the darkness in the world around us. War, abortion, euthanasia, and murder are regular occurrences even in our own communities. No wondering Saint Pope John Paul II labeled now as “the culture of death” in Evangelium Viate. Yet, hope remains. Sometimes when we focus so much on the evil, we fail to […]
Many in the Church have made serious assertions that we can have a reasonable hope that at the Final Judgement Hell will be empty – that the Mercy of God is so great that even those that do not repent will be saved. Some have even gone so far as to assert that in the […]
The Doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist
The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist has been believed by Christians since the time of the Apostles. Understanding this metaphysically and describing our belief in human terms has been a development over time, but the teaching that Jesus – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – is present in the bread and wine after […]
Cdl. McCarrick and the Conspiracy of the Well-Meaning
If you ask me what I know of the accusations against the archbishop emeritus of Washington, D.C., Cdl. Theodore McCarrick, I must reply, very little. I know he’s accused of sexually abusing at least one minor and three adults; while accusation isn’t proof, the reports seem credible enough to take his guilt as a working […]
Some Thoughts on Freedom and Truth
Some 242 years ago Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and the United States of America was born. We declared our freedom from the tyranny of King George. It’s been an interesting 242 years, to say the least. And the country – and the world – has come a long way since then. But […]
The Greatest Challenge to the Catholic Faith
This column is about worldview (metaphysics and epistemology) although it touches on social justice and politics as well. It is about the greatest challenge to the Catholic Faith and gets to the very root of the polarization both outside and inside the Church. The greatest challenge to the Catholic Faith is Postmodernism, which is […]
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