The Gift of Knowledge: Confirmation, Continued

BY Mark Shea

November 29-December 5, 2009 Issue

God did the Jews a huge favor early on in their history: He made them losers. Losers in the sense that, when it came to coming out on top in the whole “top dog in the geopolitical department” thing, Israel was never particularly notable. The nation had a brief Golden Age under David and... READ MORE

There’s Mass Music, and There’s Music for Mass

BY Michael W. Drwiega

November 29-December 5, 2009 Issue

My thoughts tend to wander in church. The lector might open with a biblical passage describing the Israelites assailing Jericho. I’ll picture myself inside the city, as a trader bartering in the ancient streets. This, in turn, will cause me to wonder how people got along in those days without air... READ MORE

The Crucifix and the Nation

BY Tim Drake

November 29-December 5, 2009 Issue

Earlier this month the European Court of Human Rights fined the Italian government for displaying crucifixes in its public schools. It was yet another example of oversized, secular bureaucracies pitting themselves against the most natural forms of human agreement — in this case, the nation.

The... READ MORE

A Slice of Humble Pie(ty)

BY Mark Shea

Confirmation, Continued

November 22-28, 2009 Issue

The second of the sanctifying gifts of the Holy Spirit given in confirmation is the gift of piety. Like all the sanctifying gifts, this is a gift you get to keep (as distinct from charisms, which are the gifts you are given in order to give them away to somebody else). The sanctifying gifts are... READ MORE

Balloon Boy’s Sham Adventure vs. Christian Derring-Do

BY Benjamin Wiker

November 22-28, 2009 Issue

By now, Register reader, you have no doubt been well saturated with news and views on the balloon-boy incident, a hoax perpetrated by a father who pretended that his 6-year-old son was perilously floating aloft in a silver balloon. The father, Richard Heene of Fort Collins, Colo., wanted... READ MORE

Real Reproductive Choice

BY Agnes M. Penny

November 22-28, 2009 Issue

In a country where women supposedly have won the right to reproductive health care, women are losing the right to natural childbirth without medical intervention.

That’s because feminists use the term “reproductive health care” to mean contraception and abortion. Options for women who choose... READ MORE

The Gift of Fear: Confirmation, Continued

BY Mark Shea

November 15-21, 2009 Issue

God gives us the gifts we need, not the gifts we necessarily want. In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye famously complains, “If wealth is a curse, O Lord, then smite me!” But his old friend, in his love for Tevye, leaves him poor — and Tevye.

On the other hand, in confirmation, God does give... READ MORE

How Cohabitation Is a Sin Against Social Justice

BY Jennifer Roback Morse

November 15-21, 2009 Issue

As everyone knows, marriage is an outdated, fossilized, oppressive institution that is constantly changing under our feet, evolving into a freer and higher and better form. And if it isn’t morphing into one of its alternatives, we would be better off without it.

As everyone doesn’t know,... READ MORE

Captain Benedict to the Rescue

BY Father Dwight Longenecker

November 15-21, 2009 Issue

In all the media frenzy over last month’s announcement by the Vatican of a new structure for the reception of Anglicans into full communion, one commenter said it was like the Titanic pulling up to a stricken ship to rescue the survivors.

Another adjusted the analogy and said that, in fact,... READ MORE

Never Ashamed of the Cross

BY Mark Shea

Confirmation, Continued

November 8-14, 2009 Issue

Biblical authors (and other ancient Christians) have a habit of referring to the mysteries of the Christian faith by means of euphemism or code words. The Church began as a persecuted faith whose members were not always inclined to blab about their holiest rites and sacraments in a way that was... READ MORE

Don’t Be Dismayed by Overdone Devotions

BY David Mills

November 8-14, 2009 Issue

“I knew a kid in grade school …” the story often begins, if the speaker grew up in a Protestant church. “My mother used to …” it often begins, if the speaker grew up a Catholic and then joined a Protestant group. I have never asked to hear this story, but I have heard it many times,... READ MORE

How Catholic Is This Compass?

BY Joan Frawley Desmond

November 8-14, 2009 Issue

In 1987, after President Ronald Reagan nominated Judge Robert Bork for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, the jurist went to pay his respects to Sen. Ted Kennedy, a powerful member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. As the two men shook hands, Bork later recalled, the senator said quietly,... READ MORE

Tea-Party Catholics?

BY Joseph E. Capizzi

November 1-7, 2009 Issue

Much has been made of the “tea party” movement in the United States, but not a lot has been said about a question it raises for Catholics: In what ways — if any at all — is “tea partying” an appropriate activity for a Catholic American citizen?

There are many difficulties in thinking... READ MORE

Without Truth There Is No Love — and Vice Versa

BY Donald DeMarco

November 1-7, 2009 Issue

It is customary in any “Introduction to Philosophy” course to explain to students that “philosophy” means “love of wisdom.” Unfortunately, what often follows is a sea of epistemological fog otherwise known as relativism, skepticism, cynicism and nihilism.

If a little more attention were... READ MORE

The Abolition of Man (and Woman)

BY BENJAMIN WIKER

November 1-7, 2009 Issue

In 1943, C.S. Lewis published his masterful The Abolition of Man, a book that is far more profound than its short length (130 pages) might suggest. Lewis’ central concern is the use of technology to control, manipulate and reconstruct human nature. The book was written in the shadow of the... READ MORE

Delivered!

BY Mark Shea

Confirmation, Part 3

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

We seem so often to be incurable legalists when it comes to the things of God. Some people talk as though baptism doesn’t really stick unless you are confirmed, too. Others wonder whether, since baptism does “stick,” confirmation is really necessary — as though the goal is to achieve a sort... READ MORE

A Few Suggestions for Next Year’s Nobel Peace Prize

BY Kathryn Jean Lopez

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

“Each person is sacred, no matter what his or her culture, religion, handicap, or fragility. Each person is created in God’s image; each one has a heart, a capacity to love and to be loved.”

These words are from a meditation in the prayer journal Magnificat. It appeared the Sunday after the... READ MORE

No More No-Tell Hotels

BY Mary Ann Kuharski

Let’s Fight Back Against Pay-Per-View Porn

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

Every summer our children looked forward to a family vacation. Granted, with 13 children, our leisure spots were not always exotic.

In the early years, we were content with summer weekends at Grandma’s two-bedroom cabin. (Yep, I said two bedroom!) It was all we could afford. But as the children... READ MORE

Why Wait? Unity, Catholicity, Apostolicity

BY Mark Shea

Confirmation, Part 2

October 18-24, 2009 Issue

There are two traditions — East and West — when it comes to the sacrament of confirmation. Together they show how doctrine can develop and unfold within the Church much as the branches on the mustard plant can develop from the seed in ways that, while different for different branches, retain... READ MORE

Is Your Secret Life a Lonely Internal Wasteland?

BY Melinda Selmys

Postmodernism, Part 3

October 18-24, 2009 Issue

Insofar as postmodernism presents any sort of hope at all, it puts its hope in the exaltation of the interior life of the individual. It perceives that public space is no longer public in any meaningful sense, and so interior space becomes the location of human creative activity.

This leads to a... READ MORE

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