Jesus Christ
The Mellifluous Doctor and Us
Most Catholics, even well-informed Catholics, if asked who were the great medieval saints would reply with a familiar list of names: Francis of Assisi, Dominic, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena. But one of the earliest among these great…
The God of the Philosophers and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
The French polymath Blaise Pascal wrote in his famous “memorial” about his “night of fire”: “The God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob – not of the philosophers and scholars.” We can understand this desire not to turn the personal God in…
Pope Leo XIV Inspires a Rebirth of Gregorian Chant
Leo XIV has done much in the first few months of his papacy to dispel damaging misconceptions about Gregorian chant rooted in ignorance of what Vatican II actually taught. When he stood on the loggia of St. Peter’s in his very first public…
Merriment from Another World – The Catholic Thing
A man with the dopiest face imaginable, always ready to break into a broad grin and a goofy laugh, is talking to Joe the Bartender about the only day he ever went to school. His name is Crazy Guggenheim. “The teacher, she asks me, Who wrote the…
The Hidden Rose – The Catholic Thing
The dogma of Mary’s Assumption, celebrated on August 15, teaches that the Lord’s Mother was taken into Heaven, body and soul, since no decay should touch the body of her who bore the Messiah. Christians believe “in the resurrection of the body.”…
Kolbe as Witness – The Catholic Thing
How can it be that, simply from viewing a picture of someone, you can form a conviction that he is a saint? The conviction appears to be a mere intuition, but later you discover that it is well-grounded. So it was for me and Maximilian Kolbe.…
What Happens If You Separate God and Man?
In a recent essay, I defended Pope St. John Paul II’s emphasis on Jesus Christ as the revelation of man to himself. If the human person wants to know what he is supposed to be, he needs to look to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, who reveal…
Aesthetic Education – The Catholic Thing
According to Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), sensuous man must pass through aesthetic experience, which is physical, in order to reach the conditions of reason and morality. Let us begin by noting that Schiller was not a huckster for democracy.…
The Joy(?) of Working for the Catholic Church
Imagine you’ve worked for a company for over twenty years. Your record of employment has been stellar; you’ve received numerous awards; and you are widely considered one of the top people in your field. Now imagine that one day, your manager…