Catholic Church
The Assumption: A Feast of Doctrinal Development
Why debate what the development of doctrine looked like in distant eras of Church history when we have three instances in front of us, two of which were seen and commented upon by that great Saint of Development, John Henry Newman? By “right in…
How to be a Dhimmi
In late July, some 60,000 migrants surged into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. The migrants were mainly young males. And since 99 percent of Moroccans practice Islam, most were almost certainly Muslim. Ceuta is not a…
Cathedrals Old and New – The Catholic Thing
On a trip back home to Southern California, I had the opportunity to visit the church of my baptism, my “mother church,” as they say. When I became Catholic at the age of twelve, in April 1976, Holy Family, in the city of Orange, had just the…
Vouchers and Vaccines – The Catholic Thing
The state of Florida is threatening to pull over a billion dollars of school choice funds from Catholic schools because those schools refuse to admit unvaccinated children in obedience to the policy of the Florida Catholic Conference. The…
Marriage Advice – The Catholic Thing
Next week, my wife and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary. We were just out of high school when we first met – barely a year older than our oldest daughter is now. It’s enough to give even a somewhat cynical middle-aged man a case of…
Marriage Advice – The Catholic Thing
Next week, my wife and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary. We were just out of high school when we first met – barely a year older than our oldest daughter is now. It’s enough to give even a somewhat cynical middle-aged man a case of…
Freedom from (Airline) Religion – The Catholic Thing
Earlier this month, Orlando-based evangelist and social media influencer Whitney Lynn posted a video of herself offering a brief preaching session as passengers prepared to debark an airplane in San Diego. Below the clip – in which most people…
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
There was a bit of a kerfuffle a few years back over the phrase in the Our Father: “Lead us not into temptation.” It was suggested that the phrase be changed to “do not let us fall into temptation,” reasoning that the original wording…
The Way Not Taken – The Catholic Thing
This is the first summer in quite a while that circumstances have prevented me from taking a walking pilgrimage, usually something like the Camino de Compostela (here) or the Via Francigena (which nearly killed me a few years ago between the…
Victory Through Suffering – The Catholic Thing
Nike, the shoe company, not the ancient Greek goddess, famously said, “Just Do It.” But why is the company called “Nike,” and what does the word mean? Nikê is the Greek goddess of victory in war – and life. Battles bring victory, and she brought…