The news would have seemed unthinkable a decade ago, but it seems that here we are, in the Year of Our Lord 2022, once more facing the scourge of polio. Officials have said that it is possible that hundreds of people in the state have gotten polio and don’t know it. Most people infected with polio have no symptoms but can still give the virus to others for days or weeks. The lone confirmed case in New Read more…
Most people now living have never seen the level of pageantry that will be coming out of England over the next two weeks, and again when Charles III is crowned in a year. It surpasses, by far, even the pomp and ceremony of a papal election or pope’s funeral. I’m curious as to whether it will inspire or repulse the young. Images have power, as do words, and while most of the world lives daily Read more…
During this month of June — the Month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Church – I have been each day** posting an image of the Sacred Heart with some little thought, either my own or someone else’s to my Twitter and Facebook feeds. The action feeds my own devotion to and meditations on the Sacred Heart, but the thoughtful responses of others is certainly gratifying and sometimes enlightening, too. There was Read more…
Today is the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, instituted by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. Here is an excerpt of a short little fiction I wrote for the day, a while back: She was grinding grains of wheat and barley when he came up from behind, startling her with a quick kiss to the cheek that made her jump and give a little cry out loud. “Yeshua,” she chided as he laughed. “You Read more…
O God, by whose command the sands of our lives run fast or slow, clean or clotted, your psalmist sang, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and a right spirit renew within me…”. Today I join this song, humbly asking that in your mercy you may will for me a clean heart, a fresh heart, a strong and healthy heart, a heart renewed. By your will, I beg that the heart of my Read more…
The funerals are beginning. We are seeing gut-churning images of parents, siblings, playmates, a whole community in grief. We’ve gasped and cried our way through such footage and photographs before, of course. And there is no saying we will not do so again, because hyper-individualism, bullying, unhealthy isolation, madness and spiritual darkness have permeated the fabric of our society to a degree that seems unfathomable to us, even as we struggle to recognize all of Read more…
I was nosing around through scripture last night and found myself looking at Revelation, a book that — thanks to the promptings of a dear old religious sister who was my spiritual advisor for a while — I have learned to love. I’d not read Chapters 12 or 13 in a while, and if you’re not familiar with them, this is where we get the bits about about the dragon and the beast — the Read more…
Blogging is dead, so the saying goes, but you know… it’s where I’m comfortable so I will be eschewing the trend toward Substack and parking myself and my thoughts back here for a while, writing for myself without the constraints that naturally come whenever you’re working for someone else. For instance, I enjoyed my writing/editing career the most during my years as Editor-in-Chief at Aleteia.org because we were striving to create a site that had Read more…
A friend of mine, a deeply faithful and kind man, and someone I’d call a true classical liberal, because he listens and then thinks (there is lots of “responding” from him rather than “reacting”), said he was trying to put a thought together and wanted my opinion. He wrote: “White nationalism is a dangerous ideology. White Christian nationalism is a dangerous ideology and idolatry. White Catholic nationalism is an ideology, idolatry, and bordering on heresy. Read more…
This little Christmas litany is one I had forgotten I’d written and was glad to find. May we praise you, Christ Child, and welcome you into our world, and into our hearts. May we grow in gratitude and intimacy with you, as we live within your light. May we begin the renewal of our relationship with you in a prayer of recognition: (Our Father…) Lord, have mercy… Christ, have mercy… Lord, have mercy… Incarnate Word, Read more…