Columns
St. Jerome and the Lion
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”– Revelation 5:5 There’s a story (likely a legend echoing the earlier…
Of Light and Darkness – The Catholic Thing
Yesterday was the winter solstice, the point at which, because of variations in the way that the Earth orbits the Sun, night is longest, the “darkest day of the year.” (It’s also my birthday, and for some who have followed me over the years, I…
A Thousandfold Intuited – The Catholic Thing
A few months ago, I was lucky enough to be in the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava, formerly Pressburg, staying in the beautiful Old Town, to speak at a conference. To say it is charming makes it sound like a wedding-cake creation; it charms…
Flannery O’Connor and the Mass of the World
When I first began devouring Catholic fiction in college, I couldn’t figure out why J. F. Powers immediately struck a chord with me and Flannery O’Connor (this year is the centenary of her birth) did not. It wasn’t that one was better than the…
The Ecclesiastical Front in the War on Christmas
A suburban Boston Catholic parish ignited a controversy this Advent when its outdoor Nativity scene replaced the figure of the Baby Jesus in His crib with a sign, “ICE was here.” The pastor contends the display moves “beyond static traditional…
A Pro-Life Christmas – The Catholic Thing
Let’s start with the “O Antiphons.” They began yesterday. There are seven of them, and they end on December 23. Then, with Christmas Eve and Christmas, they make nine – a novena – which is a period of expectation, the same in number as the…
On Santa’s Secret Police – The Catholic Thing
The Mahoney and Maier clans have been best friends for half a century. Our kids – their eight, our four – grew up together and remain close. Kim, the oldest Mahoney sibling, is godfather to our youngest son. A former Marine Corps fighter…
Annoyed and Frustrated at Mass
I am often annoyed and frustrated at Mass. Not with the Mass, mind you. I used to get annoyed and frustrated a lot with the way Mass was done when I first became Catholic. But some of that craziness from earlier years seems to have subsided…
An ‘Aide-Memoire’ for Pope Leo
Offering advice to a pope is a presumptuous thing – for anyone. In the Church of synodality, however, where everyone is supposed to have a voice – and be listened to – perhaps not so presumptuous as once upon a time. Still, such counsel should…
Our “Confinement”
If memory serves (an increasingly dubious supposition), my theatrical debut occurred in the first grade, when I played an elderly Civil War veteran. My opening lines ran: “Here it is Decoration Day, and I’m confined to my bed, too old to be in…