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!

A Brief U.S. History of Corporate Whining

Heh. Before you get your dander up, turn red in the face trying to scare me with the facts of the imminent demise of all that is right and true about the American Way, I've got one word for Corporate America: quitcherbellyachin'.

For All the Saints: Francis of Assisi, Deacon

It's the feast of St. Francis of Assisi today, in case you didn't notice. True story: My grandfather was a Catholic and his name was Francis too, and he was named after the fellow you'll be reading about below. As it happens, that is also how I came to be named, but the Catholic connotation of that Christian name lay dormant for some great length time. My grandfather died, see, when I was a wee tot and my memories of him bear no mark of his (and now my) religion at all.

Because Vincent de Paul Was Once A Muslim's Slave

Life got you down? Things perhaps haven't turned out as you planned? Do you think everyone else has got it so easy? Your neighbors, for example, or those fortunate people who come into a considerable sum of money?

And how about those saintly types? They are simply walking on air, those guys, living lives of complete and blessed beatitude, right? Hold up!

A Message on Mortgage Debt from the World

Just a quick note to parish finance committees from Joe Six-Pack, Catholic layman (in the world, but not of the world). The chart above shows the interest rate on the 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note from 1962 until the present. See the dot on the chart in July 2001? That is just for your reference.  The 10 Year Treasury is a bench mark for mortgage rates. If at all possible, it's probably a great time to refinance parish debt. Or your own mortgage if you can (and haven't already).

That is all.

A Modest Proposal: Treat Priests Like Officers, Not Like Corporate CEO's

"Soldier, shut up and soldier!"

That's one of my favorite lines from Robert Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers. You might remember that it was made into a campy, sci-fi cult movie back in the late 1990's.

To Help Make A Movie, Part Deux!

Ian Higgins writes,

Hi Frank,

I just wanted to personally thank you and all your readers who have so kindly donated and shown their support for our movie “All That Remains”. It has been overwhelming to witness such support in such a short space of time.

For The Quest for the True Cross? What a Movie This Would Make!

As you may know, today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I found a pretty good short piece on the finding of the Holy Cross over at Magnificat. But as usual, I went looking for more. Whoa...Mr. Spielberg? I've found material for your next project. This would make an epic screen play! Take a look.

For All the Saints: John Chrysostom

Today is the feast of St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church. Of course, there was a little snippet on him over at Universalis and sundry other places, like here. But my curiosity gets the best of me, see,  and I want to know more. That is one of my many faults.

Because I Asked, I Prayed, And You Helped This Pro-Life Cause

Dr. Nagai and his children praying. 

Thank you YIMCatholic Readers! On the last day of this past August, I shared a post about helping to make the movie All That Remains. When completed, it will be a docu-drama about the life of Dr. Takashi Nagai, survivor of the aftermath of the atomic bombing of the city of Nagasaki. I called it "rattling the tin cup" for a good cause, and I shared the post with you all. I threw a few shekels in myself and prayed that others would respond too.

Because Now I Know Today is the Birthday of the New Eve

I came pretty close to spending an entire lifetime on planet Earth without knowing that it's Our Mother's birthday today. The painting above reflects this event from the perspective of a contemporary Russian artist named Vasili Nesterenko, who painted this in the year of Our Lord, 2002. Here's a little something else I found in the old Roman Breviary over on the YIMCatholic Bookshelf. Genealogists might get a kick out of it.

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. 

To Help Make A Movie? Why Not!

A few weeks back was the 66th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. About a week ago, I received a note from Ian Higgins of  Major Oak Entertainment regarding a movie his studio is making about the story of Dr. Takashi Nagai, survivor of the bombing and author of The Bells of Nagasaki.  The title for the docu-drama  film is All That Remains.

For Thoughts from the Guide for Catechists, With a Little Help From My Friends

The next time the Easter Vigil rolls around, I will have been a Catholic 4 full years. But those of you who have followed my conversion story know that I sat in the pews with my wife, and later with my children, for close to 18 years, and that I started exploring the faith in earnest in the Fall of 2006.

Eventually, around the Summer of 2007, I read The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton's conversion story that was published in 1948. It turns out that 1948 is also the year that Lou Tseng-Tsiang published his Ways of Confucius and of Christ, and his friend John C. H. Wu published his From Confucianism to Catholicism a year later in 1949. More on this synchronicity shortly.

For Letters to Sons Like These by St. Stephen, King of Hungary

"My boy, at present you have the fun and I do the work; but your labors are on the way."

Now, that sounds like something I would say. Today is the Feast of St. Stephen of Hungary, who wrote the words you see above. What follows are a few excerpts from letters he wrote to his son Emeric (who also was canonized on the same day in 1083). St. Stephen is known as the first Christian king of Hungary, and his life is celebrated there with due pomp and pageantry yearly on August 20th.

The Suffering Church: Scandal

This is the final part of a three part series. Some folks thought I was skating on thin ice by mentioning heresy yesterday. What now? Surely, Frank, you didn't join the Catholic Church because of scandal? No. But at the same time, it didn't deter me much either. You know the old line, right? Hate the sin, but love the sinner. Well the Church is chock full of sinners, and it couldn't be otherwise.

Persecution of the Church from Within: Heresy

This is part II of a three part series of sermons by Fr. Cornelius Joseph O'Connell on the ever-persecuted Church. Today, the good priest turns his attention to persecution inflicted by members of the Church. That is, until they break away and leave the barque of St. Peter. Remember that line by the character "Chef" in the movie Apocalypse Now? "Never get off the boat!"

Welcome to the Ever Persecuted Church!

Of the many reasons that my (former) partners and I have written of answering the title of this blog, this is one that I've never mentioned but I do so now. Persecution. You would have to have your head solidly buried in the sand to miss the fact that of all the great religions the world over, only Christianity, and her members, is constantly bashed, battered, and attacked.

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.

From the Treasure Chest: A Primer on Natural Law

My friend John C.H. Wu was a highly regarded jurist and professor of law. He had a close friendship with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes of the U.S. Supreme Court. It turns out that one of the reasons he converted to the Catholic Faith was that the Church embraces what is know as the Natural Law. The same goes for his friend Dom Lou Tseng-Tsiang.