I noticed that this “reversion” story was written by a man that had the same surname as me, only spelled out in Gaelic, so it caught my curiosity.  Every conversion story is unique and this one is a real gem in God’s heavenly New Jerusalem. May Maolsheachlann O Ceallaigh persevere in the holy Faith unto death and win many others to the truth.

Maolsheachlann O Ceallaigh: Why ‘m Catholic: The most astonishing aspect of most reversion stories—and mine is no exception—is how little cradle Catholics think about the faith they inherit, or indeed about the very nature of their existence, until they hit some spiritual crisis. Somehow, for years on end, we manage to toddle along through this gob smacking experience called life without wondering very much about how we got here, or whether it means anything. We imbibe a set of stories about a God-man who died and rose from the dead two thousand years ago, without being too bothered about whether it’s true or not. Full story is here.

[This is an actual sermon, by an actual priest. He graciously allowed us to publish it on our web site. Please keep in mind that it was written to be communicated orally, not in print. The standards of citation reflect that. The priest who gave the sermon is especially indebted to Fr. Philip Wolfe, FSSP¹]

By the authority invested in my own mind, I am declaring this Sunday to be “back to school Sunday.” And so, let’s all go back to school. Read More »

When I read “studies show…” or “a recent study has indicated that…” I admit to having a healthy dose of skepticism. Depending on who does the “studying,” the conclusions of such a scientific pursuit could be worthless or even harmful. Of course, they could also reveal something true. So, my fellow skeptics, take it with as large a grain of salt as you like, but: A recent study has shown that “Nearly 40 percent of Europeans suffer mental illness.” Read More »

It appears that a clever, attention-seeking member of the fourth estate has seized on a deep, dark secret about a Republican contender for our nation’s highest office: Michele Bachmann’s Church Says the Pope Is the Antichrist. Michele Bachmann is a Protestant, and once belonged to a particular Lutheran affiliation, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, that says such things. Read More »

June 13 was the birthday of Jerome Lejeune (1926-1995), devout Catholic and geneticist who discovered the cause of Down Syndrome. On her blog yesterday, Rebecca Taylor posted her father’s recollections of the time he spent with Dr. Lejeune in 1978, and they were quite a tribute to this dedicated and brilliant man. You can read the tribute here. Read More »

At St. Benedict Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, our forefathers had a saying that epitomized their apostolate in the academic circles in which they moved: “We are against liberalism in religion, but we are for liberal education.” This was in the 1940’s. At the time, the Jesuits were parting drastically from the traditional ratio studiorum of their institutions of higher learning, modeling them instead after those universities they were sending their young scholastics to, like Harvard. The Jesuits’ educational system was evolving from a classical “liberal” one to its opposite, a “servile” education. Read More »

For years, physicists have been on an Arthurian quest for what they call the “grand unified theory.” Far be it from me to bore readers with an explanation of this theory that they can find elsewhere, but the gist of it is an attempt at quantifying the three fundamental interactions of physics — strong, electromagnetic, and weak — with a single principle when they operate at some very high energy. Add to this blend the force of gravity, and the attempted explanation is called a “theory of everything.”

I will propose my own “grand unified theory,” or “theory of everything,” not one that has anything to do with physics, but one pertaining to the art and science of living well. Read More »

The conscience, and that which is called synderesis (knowledge of the basic principles of the moral law), are formed in childhood. Even before a child reaches the age of reason, nascent ideas of right and wrong are there in his mind. But they are still children, and therefore need to be guided morally. For this reason, children, even infants, can and must be disciplined (in the sense of “taught,” morally as well as intellectually). Read More »

A classic Joe Sobran column has recently been posted on his web site: The Words and Deeds of Christ. The column makes for some elevated Holy Week reading. It’s not a meditation on the Passion, mind you, but the “lapsed atheist” (as I once heard him describe himself) has put his finger on one of Christ’s most arresting aspects: the fact that, after 2,000 years, people still hate Him and find His utterances unsettling. Read More »

When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda in the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him. And king Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Read More »