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 […]
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 […]
Pope Benedict XVI is REALLY Setting the Bar High For Giving Up Something For Lent.
February 11, 2013 by
A Collection of Thoughts Pope Benedict has shocked the world by announcing that he’ll be abdicating his position as the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome and the head of the Catholic Church. Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonisations, but also to communicate to you a decision […]
Levity in the Face of Adversity.
December 15, 2012 by
Today is the feast of John of the Cross. A mystic, his famous work is called “The Dark Night of the Soul,” and it speaks of that moment we all feel at times, when it feels as if we’re getting nowhere spiritually. If every time we prayed, we got happy feelings, we would begin to […]
The Ultimate Advent / Christmas / Winter Song Collection
December 11, 2012 by
On Advent, Christmas (Holiday), Christmas (Secular), and Winter Music It’s no secret: I love Advent. I find something terribly saddening when people start playing Christmas music in October (or earlier), and then cease playing it on December 26th, thereby messing up the entire Advent season and Christmas season. Not because I dislike any of these songs, but […]
With All of the Hubris and Chutzpah of Antiochus…
December 10, 2012 by
I do not like the president. I’m sure he acts in what he views as the best interests of the most people, but he’s wrong, and he’s dismantling the very basis of our country: the first amendment, by forcing Catholics to violate their consciences in order to be in business. But that’s all old news. […]
The End of Advent (First Things)
November 18, 2012 by
The following is one of my favorite pieces to read every year as Advent approaches. It is here reproduced in it’s entirety. hristmas has devoured Advent, gobbled it up with the turkey giblets and the goblets of seasonal ale. Every secularized holiday, of course, tends to lose the context it had in the liturgical year. […]