In a time when the Catholic Church is under seemingly constant attack from a secular world that denounces her as irrelevant and out of touch and that also seems to suffer from internal disconnect, I can think of few people more vital today than Pope Francis. Where credit is due We needed Popes John Paul […]
Shrovetide and The International Pancake Day Race!
March 5, 2014 by
The day before Ash Wednesday has many different names and traditions, to include Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras. However, there is one fairly recent pre-Ash Wednesday tradition that actually takes place right here in Kansas. It began in England with the observation of Shrove Tuesday. This tradition is what we know today as the International Pancake […]
Marxism? No. Liberalism? No. Christianity? Yes!
December 20, 2013 by
Compare and contrast… Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh recently accused Pope Francis of teaching “pure Marxism”, but I don’t think he understands what Marxism really is. Karl Marx, namesake of the ideology in question, denounced religious faith as “…the opium of the people”. He argued that religion blinds people to their true sufferings… “The abolition of religion as […]
Hanukkah: It’s a Catholic Thing!?
November 28, 2013 by
A few words up front: This is in no way an attempt to hijack a religious holiday from our spiritual elder brothers and sisters; far from it. But the simple fact is: It’s in the Bible. More to the point, it’s in the part of the Bible that Catholics accept as canonical (i.e.: infallibly part […]
“Hallowed Be Thy Name”: Reverence and Respect for God’s Name
October 19, 2013 by
I’ll establish some light-hearted context by noting a few of my pet peeves with grammar and punctuation. 1) I can’t stand when people mix “your” and “you’re” up. 2) If you want to make something plural, even if it’s an acronym, you DON’T put an apostrophe, i.e., you wouldn’t write “We should go get a few beer’s tonight.” […]
Q: Should women cover their heads in church and where did that tradition come from? Is this practice even appropriate?
September 12, 2013 by
A: The tradition of head coverings for women has its roots in St. Paul, who writes both that women ought to pray with their heads covered, and men with their heads uncovered, owing to the very imagery of our bodies as images of Christ and the Church (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:2ff). As late as the […]
Staring Into History: Finding the Beauty of Catholic Teachings in The Stars
September 6, 2013 by
In my fifth grade science class, we learned about “light pollution.” It didn’t make sense until seven years later when I left for college. I visited home one weekend and went to a friend’s house and finally understood the “light pollution” that my science teacher had talked about years earlier. I’d become so used to […]
Old Testament Proscriptions, The Levitical Law, and the New Covenant
July 17, 2013 by
I was reading a piece over at the Friendly Atheist, written by the daughter of prominent Christian evangelist Matt Slick, founder of CARM.org, a christian (but not Catholic, and at times Anti-Catholic apologetic website – I could write a whole web-site dedicated to refuting that stuff, but others already have.). The author of the piece, […]
True Lies and Beautiful [False] Attributions
April 30, 2013 by
“Preach the Gospel Always, And Put Words Into The Mouths Of Saints When Applicable.” One of my favorite quotes by St. Francis of Assisi is probably the only one you know. “Preach the gospel always, use words [only] when necessary.” I think it sums up a lot of the Christian ideal in many ways, particularly […]
First Knight: The Life and Legacy of Father Michael J. McGivney
April 12, 2013 by
Every now and then at Mass, the Knights of Columbus carry out a Fourth Degree Honor Guard. You may occasionally see guys wearing a Knights of Columbus t-shirt or a lapel pin on their jacket. In this, my first contribution to the Saints segment, I present their founder, Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney. He may not […]