Here's what I liked best about both Mother Angelica and Margaret Thatcher: They both beat the liberals at their own game. In an age when feminists were burning their bras Margaret Thatcher had her hair done, put on her hats and grabbed her handbag. Mother Angelica not only kept her habit, but reverted to a more [...]
Embed from Getty Images My article for Imaginative Conservative this week is a meditation on two poems for Easter: I was college student afflicted with a serious case of Anglophilia when I discovered George Herbert and his poetry. The discovery made my affliction worse. When I found that he forsook the allure of Cambridge and a [...]
All powerful and ever-living God Your only Son went down among the dead And rose again in glory. In your goodness Raise up your faithful people buried with him in baptism to be one with him in the eternal life of heaven where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit One God, for [...]
I know. I know. This is not really politically correct. You're supposed to pretend that all religions are equal. The comparative religions professor (who has comparatively no religion) teaches that all religions are human inventions based on interesting and unique historical circumstances and cultures. The theory is that religions developed from animism when cavemen grunted at [...]
This week's article for Aleteia gives a brief outline of the arguments for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and why that is the best evidence for the existence of God. Atheists like to say, “Where is the evidence for the existence of God?,” and philosophical arguments aren’t really evidence as such. They work well enough, but [...]
Embed from Getty Images I don't know, so I'm simply asking. I've seen pictures of various Catholic religious women in Washington standing up for The Little Sisters of the Poor. All the pictures I've seen are women in religious habits. As you may know, the Catholic women religious in the United States are divided into two [...]
Tonight's liturgy is the most poignant and tender of the year. We gather to commemorate the Lord's Supper, and at the heart of the liturgy is the solemn ceremony of washing feet. The ceremony adds weight to the Chrism Mass earlier in the day when the priestly ministry is re-affirmed because the twelve men whose feet [...]
My latest article for Aleteia explains why we give up meat on Good Friday and the Fridays in Lent (and I'd suggest every Friday) A Protestant friend who lived in Philadelphia once said, “You know why those Catholics eat fish on Friday? They’re all Italians, and the Italians have the fish market downtown. So they got the Italian [...]
What is it with bigotry? This week I've had people blaming whole groups for the crimes of a few. I've had Christians saying, "The Jews killed Jesus." I've had Jews saying, "Catholics hate Jews because they say Jews killed Jesus." I've had Christians saying, "Muslims are terrorists." Stop. These accusations are stupid and dangerous. The Jews [...]
The Gas Chamber at Auschwitz Flannery O'Connor wrote, "In the absence of faith, we govern by tenderness. And tenderness leads to the gas chamber." Whaat? Here's what she's getting at: People who have left the Christian faith wish to retain the remnants of the Christian faith. They want beauty without truth. They want spirituality [...]