Quick Hits: Dominican Friars video, a remarkable French mystic, a reformist imam and more

By Thomas V. Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 18, 2018 | In Quick Hits

• Some months ago I agreed to appear in a video produced by the Dominican Foundation to talk about the benefits of membership in a Dominican parish. It’s for a matching challenge fundraiser which ends Dec. 31, so I would have shared it earlier except that nobody sent the finished product to me until now. At any rate, here I am, along with Leah Libresco and others, talking about how great the OPs are.
• Speaking of OPs, here is an excellent and timely Thomistic Institute lecture by Sr. Mary Madeline Todd: “The Wisdom of St. Catherine in Times of Crisis”.
• A remarkable old Magnificat essay on an early-20th-century French mystic and convert to the Faith, René Schwob. Upon reception into the Church, he had no subjective feeling of faith, and for a long time had to accept the Church’s trustworthiness by sheer force of will and an unwavering commitment to daily Mass. His story will resonate with those people whose upbringing in a skeptical age causes them difficulties in experiencing faith. (Warning: I cannot otherwise recommend the traditionalist website which has reprinted this article, not having taken the time to examine it.)
• Fr. Rutler on Newman’s greatest achievement.
• Fr. Schall, one of the Good Jesuits, on the dangers of curiosity.
• At Public Discourse, an interesting argument that we should just admit that tariffs are harmful to the economy and yet, because there are greater values to which economic ones ought sometimes be sacrificed, develop a kind of “just tariff theory”.
• At integralist hub The Josias, Thomas Pink presents a three-part essay on “Vatican II and Crisis in the Theology of Baptism”. I don’t necessarily agree with all of his interpretation of doctrine on Church-state relations, but Pink is interesting, challenging, and reminds us of some important Catholic doctrines that have been forgotten since the Council.
• Edward Feser on Aristotelian-Thomistic arguments for there being only two sexes.
• Helen Andrews, who has experienced it, on public shaming.
• Ted Gioia (the younger brother of Catholic poet and critic Dana Gioia) is an excellent historian of music. I recommend checking out his YouTube channel, particularly the most recent video, in which he gives some historical arguments for why streaming companies are eroding our appreciation for music of the past. Watch it, and reconsider how you “consume” music!
• In a fascinating interview, Australian reformist Muslim Imam Tawhidi offers some very refreshing frankness about the history of Islam and current extremism. (Warning: Interviewer Michael Malice sometimes uses profanity, though I can’t remember if there is any in this particular video.)
• Former Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall on the Equal Rights Amendment.