A reader writes:

I find this a difficult subject to comment on when a mind is made to think that all thought should be directed toward the innocent people who died. Did God have His hand in this deed?  Should we always think that the wrath of God is nonexistent?  Do bad things happen to good people?  Was this a case genocide upon mankind and if so why was no one ever punished for crimes against humanity?  Can you lead me to what has been written in this blog and why you think that this is wrong?

Just a few thoughts after reading about Saint Paul Miki and twenty-five Companions who were crucified in 1597 because they were preaching the Gospel.  For they were "taken to Nagasaki and...READ MORE

So a week or two ago, Rush Limbaugh announced that "For the first time, I'm ashamed of my country." 

I couldn't help thinking, "Really?  For the first time? Not for Know Nothing assaults on Catholics?  Or slavery?  Or the KKK?  Not for Hiroshima?  Or Dresden?  Or Jim Crow?  Or Roe?  Or torture? Or bailouts for bankers who used the money to give themselves huge bonuses? Or the popularity of disco, Jersey Shore, Jerry Springer and Sex and the City?  You're only now finding something in our country to feel ashamed of?"

In a curious way, it was a statement that placed him in company with one of the last people on earth he or anyone else would associate him with: Michelle Obama.  Why?...READ MORE

Over at Crisis, Dale Ahlquist takes the Chestertonian approach to the matter of gay "marriage":

One of the pressing issues of Chesterton’s time was “birth control.” He not only objected to the idea, he objected to the very term because it meant the opposite of what it said. It meant no birth and no control. I can only imagine he would have the same objections about “gay marriage.” The idea is wrong, but so is the name. It is not gay and it is not marriage.

Chesterton was so consistently right in his pronouncements and prophecies because he understood that anything that attacked the family was bad for society. That is why he spoke out against eugenics and contraception, against divorce...READ MORE

A reader writes:

I don’t know if you respond to questions concerning the Scriptures but if you do, I wonder if you can help with this question.

My question concerns Paul’s Epistle to the Romans.

Paul wrote:
“…..I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

Now, if the Archbishop of Washington wrote a letter to the faithful in the Archdiocese of New York, eyebrows might be raised at the seeming audacity of the Archbishop to write to the faithful in an Archdiocese outside his jurisdiction. Yet this is what Paul appears to do. He writes to the brethren in Rome. Yet, at that time, Peter was in Rome so why did he not write to Peter rather than directly...READ MORE

A reader writes:

I noticed you quoted an email you received from a reader once, so I figured it might be a good idea to share some thoughts with you. Maybe you can use it in an article. If not, that's fine.

On the Catholic blogosphere, I see a lot of good Catholic writers talking about the perils of modern evil and what the moderns seek to do to the Church. I have no doubt, as I am sure you have no doubt, that the worst of the persecution is yet to come. And this, for any decent Catholic, is to some extent something to fear.

That is, to some extent. I mean to address here not the fact that those with God on their side have nothing to fear, although that is undoubtedly true. I...READ MORE

He writes:

I am currently considering RCIA.  I have a question regarding the deuterocanonical books.

Wiki says that “Some scripture of ancient origin are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These additional books are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah (which later became chapter 6 of Baruch in the Vulgate), additions to Daniel (The Prayer of Azarias, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and Bel and the Dragon), additions to Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Odes, including the Prayer of Manasseh, the Psalms of Solomon, and Psalm 151.”

You say on the website...READ MORE

He writes:

I find I'm having difficulty keeping myself engaged in my faith, and I thought I might ask you for some advice. I don't have a lot really committed, active Catholic friends since leaving college, and I don't know too many people in a situation like mine.

Basically put, I'm a former Catholic seminarian who has, for two years now, been having difficulty "re-adjusting" to life outside the seminary, at least on the spiritual level. Seminary is designed to make formation and the spiritual life as easy as possible. Sacraments roll of the tables; you're at mass every day, you're living with numerous priests, and there is a pervasive atmosphere where everyone is trying to...READ MORE

In moments of history like a papal resignation, it is often the case that two sorts of reasoners emerge in the life of the Church:  the regular reasoner and the signs and wonders reasoner.  There is a place for both, and both need to learn to appreciate the other. 

Regular reasoning looks at things like prudence, practicality, the witness of the Tradition, cost/benefit, etc. So, to a question like "Should the Pope resign from office?" a person of Benedict's temperament--while obviously open to the possibility that the Holy Spirit might do something miraculous to guide him--looks to the common sense of somebody like Gregory the Great, listens to his doctors saying, "You are not up to the...READ MORE