The Faith
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Dear brothers and sisters, how greatly I desire that all those places where the Church is present, especially our parishes and our communities, may become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference! –Pope Francis
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Perhaps what we modern people need most is to be genuinely shaken, so that when life is grounded, we would feel its stability; and where life is unstable and uncertain, immoral and unprincipled, we would know that, also and endure it. Perhaps that is the ultimate answer to the question of why God has sent…
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I get a daily email from the Catholic News Service summarizing the pope's doings of the previous 24 hours, generally including excerpts from his addresses. Usually I just look at the subject headings, and if it's all appointments of bishops and other Church business I delete the email without reading it. If there's an indication…
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It's called The Beauty of God's House, and is edited by Francesca Murphy, and sounds really good. When Mr. Caldecott was nearing death, I posted a prayer request for him here. But when he actually died, I was silent. That was because so many notices and eulogies appeared on the web that I couldn't sort…
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I finally bought and read this a couple of weeks ago. I suspect most people who read this blog and would be interested have already read it, but in case that's not true, I'll say that anyone interested in Flannery O'Connor should read it, both for what it reveals about her and for what it…
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…that God better have a damn good reason for some of this stuff. Or at least I can't. That reminds me: a week or so ago Daniel mentioned Ananias and Sapphira in a comment, suggesting that Peter was way out of line in calling down capital punishment from God on them for what was, admittedly,…
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As I have written more than once here, one of the two or three most troublesome questions of faith for me is the apparent contradiction between the biblical narrative of paradise and fall, and that put forward by science: millions of years of nature red in tooth and claw, and primitive mankind slowly rising out…
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Grumpy informs us in a comment that Stratford has just received last rites. Please pray for his soul and for the comfort of his family. Grumpy has included this prayer to St. Joseph as patron of departing souls: Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God.…
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Going at least back to the use of the eagle as a symbol for St. John the Evangelist, there has been an impulse to describe theologians and philosophers as soaring or climbing to heights inaccessible to the ordinary mind. Such imagery occurred to me often while I read this book, and I have to admit…
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Seen on my way home from work. I've mentioned this church sign before. St. James would not have been pleased with the internet.
Light On Dark Water 