Category Archives: Catholic Living

Catholic Living

We are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Therefore, we are not solitaries. We have a duty to help one another achieve our common salvation. We have a duty, first and foremost in our own homes, to work toward the restoration of the Catholic culture that our ancestors enjoyed. If we “cultivate” that culture ourselves, we can attract others. What we must realize is that we are not each our own species, like the angels (so taught St. Thomas), but we are members of one human race. God wills to restore and even more wonderfully recreate that original unity (disassociated after the dispersion at the Tower of Babel) in the one true Church. The articles found in this section emphasize the beauty of Catholic social and cultural life in its varied and sundry forms, as well as the harmony that flows from the incorporation of many into the one living Body of Christ. Viva Cattolicesimo!

Christmas and the Catholic Thing

The Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234-149 BC) gave us the pithy Latin proverb rem tene verba sequentur, “grasp the thing and the words will follow.” The lesson is this: once you sufficiently grasp the concept you wish to speak about (the thing), the words will flow with greater ease.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , |
Posted in Apologetics, Catholic Living, Current Issues in the Church, Theology, «Ad Rem» A Weekly Email Message from the Prior | Leave a comment

The Joy of Being Catholic

The idea that the life of a Catholic, even on the natural level, should be markedly dif­ferent from the life of, say, an Episcopalian, or a Jew, or a Bud­dhist, is not so readily apparent as some might assume. The failure to recognize this concept of “Catholic social uniqueness” is particularly common among us Catholics.


Posted in Articles, Catholic Living, Marriage and Family, Spiritual Life | 1 Comment

Concerning Palantíri and Blogses: Technology without Grace

A recent news story from the Los Angeles Times tells of a multi-level tragedy that reveals once again the the depravity of fallen human nature in its technologically-enhanced destructive ugliness. In brief, a teenage girl who was subject to depression was befriended by a sixteen-year-old boy online. After the six-week Internet friendship had developed to a point of apparent emotional attachment, the boy turned on … More →

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Posted in Catholic Living, Politics and Society, «Ad Rem» A Weekly Email Message from the Prior | Leave a comment

The Shire, not the Borg

Recently, on two separate occasions, I discussed our apostolate with a couple of members of the media. One had something of a grasp of our community’s purpose. The other was far less aware and seemed swayed by some of the more ridiculous criticisms leveled against us. The contrasting lines of questioning from each was a bit amusing. It dawned on me in these conversations that … More →

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Posted in Catholic Living, Literature and Poetry, Politics and Society, «Ad Rem» A Weekly Email Message from the Prior | Leave a comment

Saints X and Y

Below is a little talk I gave this morning to our school students (most of whom are little), who are accustomed to hearing a few minutes’ meditation about the saint of the day before each Mass. Since today is a Ferial day, claiming no saint on the liturgical calendar, I gave a hortatory improvisation in the form of a quiz that seemed to hold their … More →


Posted in Catholic Living, Spiritual Life, «Ad Rem» A Weekly Email Message from the Prior | Leave a comment

Christendom’s Building Blocks — Catholic Communities

(This is the paper written in preparation for a talk given at the 2005 St. Benedict Center Conference.) In this talk, I am going to propose that the building blocks of tomorrow’s Christendom are Catholic Communities. Before I proceed in explaining why I believe this is the case, and before I explain the principles behind it and what it entails, it would be appropriate to … More →


Posted in Catholic America, Catholic Living, Politics and Society | 1 Comment

On Keeping the Faith

Keeping the faith in our day is no mean accomplishment. In the United States we have so far been spared from such religious persecutions as have recently broken out in many European countries, but we must not on that account be lulled into a false sense of security.

Tagged , |
Posted in Articles, Catechesis and Fundamentals, Catholic Living, Did you know?, Heresies and Errors, Marriage and Family | Leave a comment

In Defense of Christmas

Today’s skeptics, who seem to reject something traditional just because it’s traditional, cannot sit still during the holy season of Christmas without mocking the notion that Christ would have been born on December 25th.  If it were just the unbelievers who engaged in this mockery, it would be expected, since unbelievers, by their very nature, are not expected to believe.

Tagged |
Posted in Apologetics, Articles, Catholic Living, Mass and the Liturgy | 4 Comments