(Note: When Mr. Potter sent me this piece for consideration, he said, “I can think of several reasons why you might decide not to post the piece I am attaching for your consideration. If you so decide, there’ll be no … Continue reading
Category: Articles
U.S. Bishops Correct ‘Ambiguities’ Concerning the Church’s Mission and the Jewish People
In what Catholic World News termed “an unusual clarifying statement,” two organs of the the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops jointly released a note highlighting and correcting the doctrinal ambiguities in a 2002 document on the Church’s mission and … Continue reading
A Word To Parents
How few parents realize the immense power they possess for moulding the character and shaping the future career of their children. The tiny babe just born to them comes from God’s hand with vast possibilities for good and evil; like … Continue reading
Blessed Solanus Casey, O.F.M., Cap.
On November 18, 2017, in Detroit, Michigan, Cardinal Angelo Amato beatified Solanus Casey, so this article has been renamed “Blessed Solanus Casey, O.F.M., Cap.” from “Venerable Solanus Casey, O.F.M., Cap.” IMAGINE, even if your name is “Barney” you can become … Continue reading
Delivering What We Have Received
We are still in what used to be the Octave of Corpus Christi. Even though this octave was done away with in the 1962 rubrics, its ghost still lurks about the liturgy. We will, this Friday, have the feast of … Continue reading
A Vocation
The Religious State can be the portion only of an elite: that is to say, of chosen souls. A special vocation is required of those who aspire to walk this narrow and uphill path.
The Hound of Hell
Pray for the fragile daughter, And the frail, infant son, Whom, at the font, the baptismal water I pour upon.
The Better Part: The Religious or Priestly Vocation
(This was written in preparation for a series of conferences on vocations and states in life that I gave at Saint Benedict Center in the Spring of 2005. Please see the end of this piece for a small table of … Continue reading
But Some Doubted
The Gospel for Trinity Sunday is bursting with theological mystery. Its three verses, which complete Saint Matthew’s Gospel, are a revelation that is radically foundational to our holy Faith, the Church, and its mission. The setting for the revelation was … Continue reading
On the Feast of the Holy Trinity
The British author and translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dorothy Sayers, once wrote a spoof catechism based upon what most people really know of their Faith. When she came to the doctrine of the Trinity she has this question and … Continue reading
Courtship and Marriage
Anyone who is contemplating marriage has a lot to think about, indeed. However, there is one modern trend that should be avoided once you have determined that marriage is your vocation. To explain this pitfall and how to overcome it, … Continue reading
Giuseppi
He was probably in his 70s, a frail little man, maybe five feet-four inches tall or so. Always wore a suit and tie, he did — the same suit coat, every day, the shoulders overlapping his own, the sleeves ending … Continue reading
The Root of Evil
Brought up as we American Catholics are in Protestant traditions, surrounded on every side by Protestant culture, compelled to approve and applaud Protestant values, any attempt on our part to resist being engulfed by this flood-tide will appear insanely anti-social. … Continue reading
O Doctor Optime
In this day of confusion and false prophets where shall we look to find the Truth which will set us free, the sure teachings of the Faith? Who will teach us Christ? As in past ages the true Christian will … Continue reading
A Note on History
One of the few things on which most Americans will agree is that dates are not worth remembering. A typical conversation might run like this: “Oh! You’re going to college?”
