Columns
The Perennial Question: “Who Is Man?”
Modern philosophy flatters itself by claiming it was responsible for the “turn to the subject,” i.e., the human (and, usually, a very subjective understanding of the human). But focus on the human is hardly a modern discovery. St. Irenaeus, a…
We Need Centers of Human Fructification
The only time Our Lord came upon something merely flourishing, he cursed it: “In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he…
The Replacements or Coming Soon: Mel Gibson’s ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’
About this time next year, Mel Gibson will release the 2-part sequel to The Passion of the Christ. Better late than never, some will say, although not, perhaps, Jim Caviezel, who so memorably played Jesus, and who has, over the two decades…
A Little Wisdom from Toonces
Most of us live at least part of our lives on autopilot. Most of us also, sooner or later, stumble across Albert Einstein’s famous warning: “Doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting different results, is the definition of…
Ever Ancient, Ever New – The Catholic Thing
St. Augustine famously wrote of having come late to the Beauty that is God: tam antiqua, tam nova (“So ancient, so new”). It’s a brilliant and profound way of expressing the truth that the deepest Good is not in the past or in the future, but by…
On Moderation – The Catholic Thing
St. John Henry Newman discovered, after much study, prayer. and pain, that the Anglo-Catholic, or Tractarian, concept of the Anglican Church as a via media between Catholicism and Protestantism, was ultimately a house built on sand, without…
Lucky Sevens: Caravaggio’s ‘Works of Mercy’
First, let’s review the Corporal Works of Mercy, which are seven in number: 1. To feed the hungry2. To give water to the thirsty3. To clothe the naked4. To shelter the homeless5. To visit the sick6. To visit the imprisoned7. To bury the dead…
For a More Manly Catholicism
Edgar Allan Poe mentioned three things, in connection with the Earthly Paradise, or perhaps there were four; I don’t pretend to be a Poe expert. But so far as I remember, they were: life in the open air, the love of a good woman, and the…
The Ascension as a Gift of Faith
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Ascension. (Depending on where you are; check your local listings.) It’s worth pondering: Why did Christ ascend? Why, having conquered death, did He not remain? Wouldn’t it have been simpler for a…
The Devil and ‘Emerging Issues’
It’s often been said, though perhaps not often enough lately, that the Devil can cite Scripture for his purposes. Whether the Evil One is operative in many of the current approaches to Scripture – in university departments and some Church…