Columns
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…
Fear – and Hope – in Europe’s Christmas Markets
Advent in Germany is brightened by its world-famous Christmas markets. The smell of grilled sausage, Germany’s famous mulled gluhwein, and gingerbread (Lebkuchen) blend together under multicolored lights creating a cheerful experience in…
Two Corrections for the Week
As an intellectual pharisee, I acknowledge that I’m smarter than everyone else (after all, I’m a philosopher!). Like Aristotle’s unchanging, eternal Prime Mover, the only suitable activity for me is contemplating my own excellence in my…
Nostalgia and Advent – The Catholic Thing
The word “nostalgia” was coined in the seventeenth century by a Swiss physician named Johannes Hofer. The word was a Latinized combination of two Greek words: nostos, meaning “a return home” (think Odysseus), and algos, meaning “pain.” Hofer…
Broken Altars – The Catholic Thing
On December 10, 1989, at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers under the shadow of Devin Castle, tens of thousands of Slovaks marched from Bratislava to Hainburg, Austria, piercing the Iron Curtain. Large crowds also assembled at the…