In his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer presents a series of charming stories told by his colorful medieval characters. These holy and not-so-holy fourteenth-century pilgrims were on their merry way to the shrine of St. Thomas á Becket, long before the … Continue reading
Having stated the errors we hope to avoid and the goals we hope to accomplish, I would like to point out some good American traditions and cultural achievements upon which we hope to build. The categories I have chosen are … Continue reading
Mental pictures can help in illustrating an important point. The reader will excuse me, I hope, if I begin with a mental picture that is not the most pleasant.
In modern theology, biblical criticism, and other sacred sciences, articles are often entitled, “The Problem of X,” or “The X Problem,” as in “The Problem of Free Will” or “The Synoptic Problem.” Modern folk have the bad habit of looking … Continue reading
I had occasion recently to be on a college campus. Approaching my appointed destination, I was greeted by a crowd of demonstrators, who happened to be protesting against the event I was attending (that event is a story for another … Continue reading
The Feast of the Epiphany, which the Church celebrated yesterday, formerly had an octave. Although the octave was suppressed in the 1962 Rite, even the rubrics promulgated in that year still recognize the “ghost” of the octave, inasmuch as certain … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
(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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Site development: Bonaventure
