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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
Spiritual Consolation Along ‘The Road’
BY Stephen Mirarchi
October 18-24, 2009 Issue 
Until a few
years ago, the majority of people familiar with Cormac McCarthy were graduate
students in humanities, professors of English or attentive advanced-placement
high schoolers. The latter were treated one year to a passage from the author’s
philosophically dense novel The Crossing... READ MORE
A Sacrament in Search of a Theology: Confirmation, Part 1
BY Mark Shea
October 11-17, 2009 Issue
Confirmation
has sometimes been called a sacrament in search of a theology. That’s because
many Catholics wonder, “What exactly are we doing this for?” and celebrate it
(if at all) mostly because, well, the Church says to do it and it seems like a
nice rite of passage for teens passing into... READ MORE
Modern Lessons From America’s First Bishop
BY Kevin D. Roberts
October 11-17, 2009 Issue
Father John
Carroll’s consecration as America’s first bishop — fittingly, on the feast of
the Assumption 1790 — marked the Church’s transition from infancy to
adolescence in our country. More than being mere Catholic history trivia,
Archbishop Carroll’s tenure provides important... READ MORE
A Leader in the Service of Truth
BY Kathryn Jean Lopez
October 11-17, 2009 Issue
“The hope of
this rising generation,” said Father Michael Keating, “sits on a hill with a
Bauhaus-style bell tower cross here on the campus of the University of Mary."
The bell tower — officially a "bell banner" — can be seen from miles away.
Along with much of the stone and concrete... READ MORE
In Praise of Folly
BY Melinda Selmys Postmodernism, Part 2
October 4-10, 2009 Issue
The
fundamental disease of postmodernity is despair. Postmodernism is like a
bereaved bride, weeping because her beloved is dead. There is nothing to
console her — better if she were dead. Yet show her a reason to hope, and she
will cling to it with all her strength.
Postmodernism has lost hope... READ MORE
Pray for a Harvest of Holy Priests
BY Father Salvatore DeStefano
October 4-10, 2009 Issue
No priest
ever forgets his first day in the seminary. After all the discernment, he has
left the job behind, the girlfriend behind, his own family and friends behind —
all to journey down an unknown path, hoping and praying that he is doing God’s
will. My first day was just like this.
We had... READ MORE
The Convert Clergy Conundrum
BY Father Dwight Longenecker
October 4-10, 2009 Issue
Tom was a
Methodist minister for 30 years. He pastored a church with thousands of
members, managed a large budget and employed 50 people. A married man with
three grown children, Tom held a master’s degree in theology and a doctorate in
pastoral counseling. He was a leader within his denomination... READ MORE
Washed, Justified, Sactified
BY Mark Shea Baptism, Part 5
September 27-October 3, 2009 Issue
Naaman, the
great Syrian general, had a little problem. He was a leper. His Israelite slave
girl gave him news that a prophet of Israel, a great man named Elisha, might be
able to help him out of his predicament. So, being a great man himself, he went
to the prophet to ask for help. The reply came... READ MORE
All Eyes on Tyrannized Belmont Abbey
BY Gerald J. Russello
September 27-October 3, 2009 Issue
First the state came for Catholic hospitals. Now
it’s coming for Catholic colleges.
In
a remarkable act of government overreaching, the federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission has charged Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina with
potential discrimination against women. The reason? The... READ MORE
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