Walt Whitman's Poem On Columbus Day

Ignatian spirituality tries to find God in all things. Many take issue with that premise, especially when stuck knee deep in the mire of day-to-day problems. I don't claim to be Ignatian in my outlook (nor Franciscan, Benedictine, etc) on events or things. As a Catholic, I'm a little bit of all of those charisms, and more. But I do believe God works through the secular, just as I have faith that all things work for the good.

For the Faith of Andrea Doria at Lepanto

—Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary  

When I was a kid, I really enjoyed reading history. Usually, I wasn't reading the history that I was supposed to be reading in the classroom.  I really didn't do that well in school until I served two hitches in the Marines and then decided to get out and go to college. Grade school and high school? Homework, schmomework!

To Pray for Rihanna and the Farmer

Rihanna showing too much skin? So says an Irish farmer. Around his neck of the woods he's known as "the Christian." Rihanna & Co. wanted to shoot a music video on his property, and he agreed until he saw how scantily clad she was. Here's the scoop,

For Your Holiday Friday Night at the Movies: Soul Surfer

Are you ready for Summer to be over and for the kids to head back to school? Well guess what. My kids have been back in school since 3 weeks ago. Ugh! But just like the kids who don't start school until after Labor Day, their consolation is a long weekend now.

Because Takashi Nagai Could Give Such A Speech

The other day, I posted about a movie being made about the life of Dr. Takashi Nagai. Today, I want to share with you a speech he gave. Keep in mind that he had lost his wife, almost all of his students, and many of his colleagues when "the Bomb" was dropped on Nagasaki. And his lesson to us all was to share Our Lord's new commandment: love one another. 

For "Ghetto Catholicism?" Not Hardly.

The thoughts I share with you now were originally published in 1961, and in English in 1963. Yet today, to this humble reader at least, they seem prophetic. Taken from the first chapter of the first volume of the title you see below, Fr. Karl Rahner, SJ, explains why in the Post Christian world of today, opting for the ghettoization of the Church is a non-starter.

Quote of the Week

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There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind. -Hannah Senesh, poet, playwright, and paratrooper (1921-1944)

A Tale of the Laity and Priestly Scandal, Circa 1400 AD

This is Part III of a recently started series about on-going personal conversion. Part I started us off with thoughts from a vision of St. Catherine of Siena. Part II continued with words of a Franciscan friar giving an intelligence brief on our adversary. What follows is either miraculous or not depending on how you view things.

For Thoughts on Our Adversary by Fray Francisco de Osuna

No, this isn't about Uncle Sam, patriotism, or anything like that. This is part two of a series on the work of on-going personal conversion that I started yesterday. Milk drinkers beware, because meat and potatoes are coming your way.  Bring your knives and forks and spoons. Napkins are optional.

Because These Words Paul Wrote Are Worthy of Shakespeare

Especially compared to the weak tea of the speech heard 'round the world yesterday.

Of course, this passage from his second letter to the Corinthians isn't just some dramatic idea that the Apostle Paul dreamed up. They are after all an account of his personal experience witnessing for Christ.

But they are more than that too. They are the words of God in the person of the Holy Spirit.

For the Faith and Courage of St. Justin Martyr

It's the first day of a new month on the calendar. Summer breezes are blowing, and the grass is green. In my neck of the woods, school is out and the pools are open. Some folks have already made trips to the beach to enjoy the sun and the sand. You know, to get away from it all.

Juxtaposed against the fantasy of a relaxing vacation to the sound track of the rolling surf, I present you with the trial of the Samaritan named Justin Martyr. What you are about to read took place in the year 165 AD. Let me do a little math in my head, hmm. Yes, about 132 years after Christ died.

Because the Peace of Christ is Real

 Guest post by Dwija Borobia

Dwija Borobia, 30, her husband, and their four young children decided to buy a house - sight unseen - in rural Michigan off the internet. Two months ago, we ran a piece of her story here.  Here's another piece. 


When I'm presented with a challenging circumstance, when the road gets a little bumpy and the things aren't going the way I wish they would, I clam up.  I need time to process the valleys of life.  The peaks...well, I shout those out eagerly!  Today, on the other hand, is different.  Today I'm ready to share something with you that was, or perhaps should have been, more difficult to celebrate.

On the Friday before Mother's Day, my husband was laid off.

"Post-Rapture Scare" Music (Caritas in Veritate Edition)

—Feast of St. Rita 

Like a champion athelete that should retire when they are on top, I probably should have quit when I was ahead when it comes to the most recent Rapture scare. But the thing is, this isn't the first prediction of the end of the world and it won't be the last.

The Bible may not guarantee it, but I will. And we get to do this all over again in 2012 too? Sheesh! But wait a second; the Bible does guarantee something: there is no knowing when the end will come, so stop with the guessing already.

For Abusive Ad Hominem Attacks...Not!

—Feast of St. Simon Stock  

I've mentioned in passing that for my day job, I work in an archive. What Fr. Barron relates below about the documents, and hard to read handwriting, etc., reflects a wonderful experience that I have daily at my workplace. Sharing documents with folks as they do family and historical research is an intangible benefit of working in an archive as well.

Did I mention that I also get heaping helpings of silence and solitude at work too? It is a long way from the noise I endured on the flight line and the gun line when I was a Marine. And it's a long way from the controlled chaos of a trucking fleet's dispatchers office when I was a logistics manager too.

Because Now That I'm Catholic, I Can't Imagine Life Any Other Way

 Guest Post by Sandy Croslow

I've been attending Mass almost weekly for more than three years. Yet the handful of Masses I've attended since my confirmation at Easter Vigil have blown me away. Partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ makes me feel more a part of the Body of Christ than I could ever have imagined.

On Sunday, I attended Mass at All Souls' Parish, the neighborhood parish in my hometown in the St. Louis suburbs. I knew no one but I felt at home. Sunday night I realized All Souls, a beautiful church by the way, is the only Catholic Church I ever attended with my mother: we went to a neighbor's wedding there in the mid-1960s. (Pictured here in a photograph by Mark Scott Abeln, a convert)

Because of the Way This Desert Father Handled a Calumny

—Feast of St. Joseph  

There are scandals, and rumors of scandals and there always will be. To be tainted by scandal, whether you are wrongly accused or guilty, is really a no-win situation. How does one take on the burden of this situation?

Christ was wrongly accused and He barely said a word to defend himself. But others have been wrongly accused and have borne their accusations in a similar manner.

Because I Need to Face Reality

My friend Martina said something funny and true tonight during our School of Community: once you own a certain model of car, you start seeing it everywhere. Likewise, she said, once you begin to see Christ, you begin to see Him everywhere. Because He is.

My involvement with the ecclesiastical movement known as Communion and Liberation has helped me to discern the presence of Christ in my daily life. I have come to understand that my faith is not a tool to shield me from reality or protect me from the world; rather it is a way to help me understand that Christ is present in every moment and that He is embedded in the details of the realities I face.

For Lessons on Lying from "The Catechism Made Easy" (with a Little Help from the Rolling Stones)

The subject of "lying for Jesus," as Mark Shea puts it, has been rolling through the Catholic blog-o-sphere in light of the tactics used by the Pro-Life group Live Action. 

I even posted a little piece comparing many of the commentators to characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. I dubbed Mark Shea as "Faramir" because that character said, "I would not snare even an orc with a falsehood." Mark states his case based on what the Catechism says about lying.

For Faith in Action: Live Action and the Lord of the Rings

Feast of St. Alvarez of Corova 

I know. This is a weird title for a post. What does the Lord of the Rings trilogy have to do with Live Action? Maybe nothing, or maybe everything. Bear with me for a moment and I'll try to explain.

The other day, I wrote a little post that I titled Because All of the Big Questions Have Been Answered. There, I stated simply that, "what is left to do, and one which takes a lifetime to perfect, is the implementation of the answers."

Because He Changes Our Mourning into Dancing

These past few weeks have been difficult for reasons I am not at liberty to explain. Suffice it to say people I love have been facing pain-filled circumstances and I have been spending what free moments I have praying to Christ that these loved ones might understand His immeasurable love surrounds and lifts them.

This afternoon after running some errands, I parked our van in front of our home and was going to indulge myself in a few moments of sorrow. Just then, a small girl emerged from a house across the street, a house I know to be filled with pain and sadness.