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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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