In his 2009 address at the Willebrands Symposium in Rome, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, confronts the widespread impression that ecumenical dialogue —particularly that between the Churches of Rome and England — has stalled, gone stale, or even reached a dead end. He expresses sincere hope that this is not the case, and emphasizes the …
Category Archives: things of God
I am a Catholic
I am a Catholic. As a Catholic in the 21st century I feel an extraordinary pressure to have a well-defined identity, an identity that is easy to label so I can tell my fellow Catholics exactly what sort of Catholic I am. I feel the burden of needing to know exactly where I stand on …
The God That Failed
Our God lies in the tomb this day. He has been cruelly tortured and murdered. His followers, those to whom he had revealed his glory and power throughout three long years full of wonders and truth, have scattered and fled, huddled together in fear, all hope drained from them. Yet as Christians we believe, not that …
Who do the Irish think they are?
I dislike special treatment. Of course, I like it when I am the recipient of some sort of exceptional coddling, but on principle I have to object to it. And I am sure that most of you readers will agree. Who hasn’t seen spoiled children in retail stores, screaming and throwing a fit until they get whatever they want? It is awful. It shouldn’t happen, and we all know why it does: the parents are failing to be sufficiently firm with their children. I’m not going to launch into a dissertation on how I think children should be raised—that’s a different article, one I’ll write after I have some experience in that area. All I am trying to do here is establish that it is despicable when a child of any age whines until he gets his way (oh yes, and girls do this, too), and what is even more disturbing is the parents who allow and encourage this sort of behaviour.
Watching Doubt
It was just over an hour into Doubt (2008) before I caught one. The movie is set in 1964, and the snippets of Mass seem carefully accurate, both in tone and in form. Period dress, and especially clerical manners, are spot-on. Yet when Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character opens his breviary in the garden, it is clearly the current edition in English, the same edition I have sitting next to me, an edition which was first printed in — wait for it — 1975. Ahh! Is it sad that noticing that makes me feel more alive than anything has in weeks?
An image made too real
Two young priests I was in seminary with — and the only identical twin priests I know — have been bravely blogging about their experience of ministerial priesthood since 2007. Frs. Joel and Benjamin Sember, priests of the Diocese of Green Bay, share a joint blog where they post their weekly homilies (they also have podcasts) and write reflective and often insightful occasional pieces. It is one of my favorite Catholic blogs.
In a recent series, posted between 25 February 2010 and 1 March 2010, Fr. Benjamin attempted a lengthy, comprehensive, and definitive catechesis in response to a question he had fielded from a member of his young flock, regarding the Catholic Church’s continued reservation of ordained priestly ministry to men only. It is an interesting read, and he certainly doesn’t hold back in his ambitious coverage of all the traditional talking points.
Radicalized
Three months ago, if someone had told me I would get all fired up about liturgy in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, I would have had to give them a wry smile and shake my head at them. I had been there, done that, I would have said. I burnt out, and I no longer had the emotional energy to get entangled in that morass.
And then I started my Christian Liturgy course. When speaking of activists (and terrorists), the term “radicalized” is often used: something — some event, or some encounter, or some experience, or some increase of inequality, something — pushes an individual over the line between resentment and the willingness to do something about it. By the end of the second class meeting, I could tell that this course was going to be my radicalizing experience.
whining and name-calling
I am struck by the irony that in the same week that Catholics fall over themselves to cheer Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s blog post to the New York Times, accusing the paper of (the horror!) anti-Catholicism, that these same Catholics are quick to share headlines like “Jihadist gunman kills American Troops in Fort Hood” with all …
The Second Joyful Mystery: The Visitation
Eagerness. That single word sums up this entire story for me, as well as the central challenge that it sparks in my soul every time I reflect upon this mystery. Mary learns that her female relation Elizabeth is expecting a child, despite a lifetime of shameful “barrenness” for her and her husband. Mary is eager …
The First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation
Mary didn’t plan to be the Mother of God. We are given no hint in the Gospels at what she did plan. It may have been an ordinary life, full of ordinary dreams: husband, children, home — dreams no less meaningful for being ordinary. But then a winged Italian shows up one morning, brandishing a tulip, …
