The Catholic Thing
The Mother of God, Virgin in the Act of Giving Birth
Did the Virgin Mary suffer the trauma of labor and its pains? Not a few preachers at Christmas Mass speak as if Mary did. But a long tradition in the Church presents a very different picture. First, what does Scripture say? “She gave birth to…
Gate of Heaven and Mother of God
Mary is called the Gate of Heaven, because it was through her that our Lord passed from heaven to earth. The Prophet Ezekiel, prophesying of Mary, says, “The gate shall be closed, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, since…
On the ‘Happy’ in Happy New Year
Pascal Bruckner, the political philosopher, is a classic French intellectual. Raised Catholic and educated in Jesuit schools, his adult thought is thoroughly secular. But he has a keen intellect, a clever pen, and a lively skepticism. And, to…
Incarnation Wonder – The Catholic Thing
Many have likely seen the amazing photos from the James Webb Space Telescope showing thousands of galaxies. Not just stars, mind you, but galaxies, each of which is filled with trillions of stars. Now imagine those thousands upon thousands of…
The Holy Innocents – The Catholic Thing
The Church, “expert in humanity” (as Pope Paul VI put it), knows that the mystery of Christmas (like that of Easter) is so great that it cannot be adequately plumbed – let alone celebrated – in a single day. And so, taking a page out of our…
Imitating the Holy Family – The Catholic Thing
The collect for today’s feast prays, “O God, who were pleased to give us the example of the Holy Family, graciously grant that we may imitate them.” Now, that’s a tall order. After all, the Holy Family was exceptional. Inimitable, one might say.…
Benedict’s Maestro Makes Music for Leo
High culture – and the spiritual appreciation of high culture – returned to the Vatican this month. Pope Leo XIV is quietly restoring some recent traditions, such as personally celebrating Holy Mass on Christmas morning, not done since 1994.…
A King is Born: Christ the Lord
Luke’s Gospel provides a rather detailed rendering of Jesus’ birth. Because Mary “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart,” she must have given her eyewitness account to Luke. Thus, the historicity of what is declared should not be…
That He Will Come Again
The road to Catholicism is not necessarily straight or smooth, and it may have been wiped out, for instance, by a mountain avalanche just when it was coming into view. In my case, even where there were no memorable avalanches, it took me half a…
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…