Commentary
5.21 St. Thomas Aquinas: The Angelic Doctor
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) - Student of St. Albert the Great, and friend of St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas brought theology and scholastic philosophy together in a way that remains the standard of Catholic thought to this day. In some ways, St. Thomas can be thought of as a second Augustine, who arguably even surpassed the great father of the Church, and brought Augustine’s teaching to a more perfect culmination.
Israel in Gaza: a just cause, an unjust campaign
Israel had a just cause for military action against Hamas. But a just cause does not by itself guarantee a just war. Cardinal Parolin continued the sentence by saying “but even legitimate defense must respect the principle of proportionality.”
An “alternative autobiography” of G. K. Chesterton
Ahlquist has spent most of his life locating, reading, and making notes on everything that Chesterton wrote that has survived in any form whatsoever, from correspondence saved in attics to back issues of the newspapers for which Chesterton wrote, wherever they have been found, over the past few generations.
US army chaplain meets Italian monks in Paisan (1946)
Roberto Rossellini's 1946 World War II film Paisan has a unique structure: six vignettes following the American troops north from their landing in Sicily through Naples, Rome, Florence, Romagna, and the Po Delta. However, the film takes the perspective of the Italians, with the Americans more often than not naive outsiders. It is a fascinating exploration of the clash of cultures in the tragic scenarios of war and foreign occupation.
Faith and Feelings
Abraham replied, in terrible anguish, with prophetic words, words that anticipated Calvary: "the Lord Himself will provide the sacrifice.”
How you will never hear the seamless garment theory used
The vast majority of people who compare and contrast moral positions using the seamless garment approach do it almost instinctively in ways which single out opposition to abortion as insufficient. You never hear the argument expressed in a way that qualifies opposition to the death penalty or opposition to restrictions on immigration (or anything else) as insufficient.
20 Years of Catholic Arts Revival—Dappled Things
Dappled Things: The Quarterly of Ideas, Art, and Faith is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In its 20 years it has contributed to the beginning of a Catholic literary revival, nurturing the talents of many Catholic writers and visual artists. In recent years especially, many exciting new...
St. Peter: Refuting today’s false moral justifications
Without question, Peter, the chief of the apostles, was a moralist—so let none of us make the mistake of thinking Christ Himself was not. This does, after all, seem to be the great Christian and even Catholic error of our age, in which we are so anxious to to proclaim that acting on any deeply felt impulse must be good. To the contrary, this is precisely what Peter used his two inspired letters to refute.
The Pope’s statement on the Durbin award: wrong, and irrelevant
”I am not terribly familiar with the particular case,” the Pope said as he began his response to a reporter’s question. That is an excellent reason for a Roman Pontiff to avoid any direct answer to a vexed political question.
Bishops Approve “Gay-Washed” Bible
You can see the problem in how the Times—and the NRSVue’s translators—frame the issue. It is an ideological novelty to say that the Bible makes moral distinctions between different types of homosexual relationships.
Vandalism of Catholic churches: worse than reported
If indeed pastors are keeping incidents quiet, do you think that response is right or wrong?
Inescapable Religious Systems of Human Behavior
The rich man who neglected Lazarus recognized no religious authority (cf. Lk. 16:19-31). Thus, he lived. Thus, he died. Thus, he was judged.
G.E.M. Anscombe—War and Murder
"Two attitudes are possible: one, that the world is an absolute jungle and that the exercise of coercive power by rulers is only a manifestation of this; and the other, that it is both necessary and right that there should be this exercise of power, that through it the world is much less of a jungle than it could possibly be without it, so that one should in principle be glad of the existence of such power, and only take exception to its unjust exercise."
Leo XIII’s condemnation of liberalism
Leo XIII's Libertas is an essential encyclical to understand where the West has gone wrong. It contains the Church's doctrine on true liberty, as well as her condemnations of liberalism and unconditional freedom of worship and speech.
Seamless garment? Cardinal Cupich mixes the metaphor.
Sadly, more often than not, the seamless garment argument has been used to place those who place more popular prudential causes on the same moral footing as those who prioritize the absolutely foundational (and frequently unpopular) right to life. Even worse, the seamless garment theory has very often been used to argue that those who defend the right to life of unborn children are morally at fault for not defending less foundational moral positions with equal vigor.
5.20 St. Bonaventure: Prince of Mystics
St. Bonaventure (1221-1274) continued the legacy of St. Anthony and was the Franciscan counterpart to Aquinas. He’s called the second founder of the Franciscans, and the Prince of the Mystics, because he continued the mystical tradition of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and he preserves for us the mystical spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi, as well as being an important influence on later mystics, such as St. John of the Cross.
Three lessons from Erika Kirk
Erika Kirk's forgiveness of her husband's assassin, and the specific way she has gone about it, provide important lessons not only in forgiveness itself, but in how to handle victimhood, and in the distinction between forgiveness and the remission of temporal punishment.
The Cupich assault on episcopal unity
By banning Durbin from Communion, Bishop Paprocki sent a strong message—not just to the senator, but to the world at large—that the Catholic Church is serious about the gravity of abortion, that politicians who support the practice are endangering their souls. Now by honoring Durbin, Cardinal Cupich is effectively erasing that message.
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
James and Thomas discuss the original creepy clown movie, the 1924 silent film He Who Gets Slapped, about a scientist who suffers a mental breakdown after his research and his wife are stolen by a wealthy baron, and becomes a circus clown with a rather singular act...
Money Mania—and other false idols
Who is the opposite of the Devil? If you answered Jesus, you are susceptible to Devil Mania. We are not Manichaean heretics, believing that a God of Good is opposed by a God of Evil.
Evaluating Pope Leo in light of our own sins
In the first place, it is very important to emphasize that the Church is always in very bad shape, humanly speaking. There has never been a time in her history when she was not plagued by infidelity, laxness, various forms of persecution, attitudes drawn more from the worldly culture than from the faith, and widespread mediocrity (or worse) among bishops, priests, deacons, religious and laity—forms of mediocrity fairly typical of their respective states in life.
Leo XIII Against Modern Liberties
We must rediscover Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Libertas. Warning of the evil consequences of political liberalism, Leo also takes aim at various false liberties in which modern people take such pride, especially freedom of speech and of worship. As startling as Leo's teaching may be to modern Catholics, his fundamental principle is the one that Pope St. John Paul II enunciated when he said that "freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."
A blunt cardinal, a cautious Pontiff
Throughout the interview the Pope shows a marked tendency to presume that the current teachings and practices of the Catholic Church are right and should not change. In all these respects he contrasts sharply with his predecessor.
The double scandal of the ‘DEI means God’ essay
If that is what DEI means—if DEI refers to the Providential action of the Almighty—then there was no point in writing this essay. The Trump administration cannot stop God’s work.
Roadmaps of Redemption and Salvation
Hilaire Belloc suggests American Capitalism is rooted in Calvinism. But as Belloc observes, the religion of Calvin disappeared, and capitalistic institutions remained!
“Imagine” in St. Peter’s Square
If “Imagine” really is played in St. Peter’s Square tomorrow, it will be a repeat of what Kolbe saw a century ago – but this time, voluntarily hosted by the Vatican.
The other tragedy in Charlie Kirk’s assassination
Charlie went from what seemed a libertarian-only philosophy to being a committed Evangelical and an advocate of Christian conservatism. He was only 31 years old. Had he lived, might he also have become Catholic?
Why the ‘good bishops’ keep disappointing the faithful
Unfortunately, despite the undeniable excitement that St. John Paul II generated, and the emergence of a new generation of enthusiastic “JPII Catholics,” that restoration had never materialized—at least not in the typical American parish—by the time Hitchcock was writing. Nor would it materialize in the years that followed, during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
Pope Leo on leading the sheep to safety
For newly ordained bishops, Pope Leo has stressed hardships related to ecclesial belonging and practice, passion and courage for the Gospel, and ethical challenges for pastors who wish to be guides. This is not the same emphasis that was so characteristic of Pope Francis, who focused on shepherds who accompany their sheep to the point of acquiring their smell.
Christian Raab, OSB—In Search of the Masculine Genius
"When attention to the theological meaning of femininity is not accompanied by reflection on masculinity, men are left without a sense of the existential and sacramental significance of their own sex."
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