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!

Pray For Anu Garg? You Betcha!

Remember me and my pal Anu Garg? We went around the block a few times. Well unlike all the other times I've posted about him and his A.Word.A.Day website, this time my hat is off to him. Maybe caught wind of today's readings.

For Thoughts On Being a Christian by the "Chinese Chesterton"

  

All wisdom is from the Lord God, and hath been always with him, and is before all time. —Sirach 1:1

I came across the following thoughts in my friend John C.H. Wu's book The Interior Carmel: The Threefold Way of Love. Author Frank Sheed called John, a Benedictine Oblate, "the Chinese Chesterton." The following selection may help you understand why.

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.

Because the Case for Marian Devotion is Iron-Clad

On the cusp of the Feast of the Assumption, it's a good time for a little Mariology. What follows are thoughts of John C.H. Wu on Our Lady and the Catholic Church. This is from the epilogue of his book Beyond East and West. To me this is one of the best answers to the question "Why do Catholics venerate Mary and why is this important?" Think of that as an essay question on a final exam that you must answer in 700 words (or less) and see if you can top my friend John. I personally don't think you can (I know I can't!).

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)

Because John Galt Is Really Ayn Rand, Not Jesus Christ (Nice Try Though)

What does it take to snap Joe-Sixpack, USMC out of his reverie? That's easy. Keep attempting to redeem the ideas of Ayn Rand and Christianize them. I'll fix bayonets and come running like a teufel-hunden responding to one of those silent dog whistles.

Reverend Robert A. Sirico of the Acton Institute (which I generally admire) recently wrote an article entitled Who Really Was John Galt Anyway? Therein, Rev. Sirico tries to tease out Jesus Christ from the persona of Ms. Rand’s fictional character John Galt. Or perhaps he tries to tease out Ms. Rand’s longing for the Lord.

For the Seed Planted by a Chinese Confucian Diplomat

—Our Lady, Help of Christians 

The Holy Father has asked us to pray for the Church in China today. News reports are saying that security is tight in Sheshan. Of course, we must not forget that Mainland China is still under the control of a form of government that is not altogether friendly to the Church. Militant xenophobia has run through China long before she fell to the Communists.

That's why I feel compelled to share the following story from my dear, departed friend named Dom Lou Tseng-Tsiang. Doesn't he look stunning in this photograph? That was taken in 1906 when he was a diplomat to the Hague. At that time, China was still ruled by the soon to be extinct Manchu Dynasty.

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 Osama Bin Laden's Compound Near St. Peter's Church?

Obviously, this is not one of the reasons why I am Catholic. But it is interesting anyway, especially given my previous post today. Here's why.

Remember last Fall I asked you to pray for the flood victims in Pakistan?  Well, as it turns out, that was when you first inadvertently prayed for your enemy, Osama Bin Laden.  You see, his compound was in the same city as St. Peter's Church.

To Pray For the Victory Over Terrorism

Surely I'm not the only one to notice that on Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1, 2011, Blessed Pope John Paull II was beatified and Osama Bin Laden was killed. Is it a miracle? Is it a coincidence? I have no idea.

Perhaps it was a miracle, the first one since our late Pope was officially recognized as a saint. I don't know the answer. Here is how I feel about the news of Bin Laden's death though,

I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.

Because Christ Is Still Living Among Us

What follows is from Giovanni Papini's introduction to his Life of Christ. Published in 1921, you would think that these words were written just yesterday. John C.H. Wu tipped me off to this book and I found a used copy of it on Alibris.

It's 408 pages long and is filled with great passages. Written in his native Italian, it was translated in 1923 by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. Papini had been an ardent atheist, anarchist and was one of the literary giants of Italy. 

Because Mammon Is Going To Be Angry

Gordon Gekko, Disciple of Mammon

-Feast of St. Julius 

OK. Let's say (just for fun) that we've tossed Christ and His Church into the dustbin of history. Too many rules and regulations, see? Too much guilt and that unpalatable need to be responsible, etc.

We're now "all-in" on worshiping the god named Mammon. We love Mammon and will always do his bidding willingly.

Would it come as a surprise to you to learn that we are about as faithful to our new god as we were to our former God (with the capital "G")?

Because the Proof of Ayn Rand's Pudding, Is In the Eating

-Feast of St. John Baptist de la Salle

About a month ago, I wrote a wee post around a television interview Mike Wallace did with Ayn Rand back in 1959. I just as easily could have used an interview she did later on. Same story, same selfish pseudo-philosophy.

You see, being selfish is easy and being a Christian is hard. And being really, and truly Christian is almost never even attempted.

For Thoughts Like These by George Santayana

—Feast of St. Jerome Emiliani 

Let me preface this post with an acknowledgement of the fact that philosopher George Santayana died as an atheist. But as an atheist, Santayana put pen to paper on some Catholic ideas that lack only one thing, really. And that one thing is the simple faith of a child in order to believe them.

As minds of adults go, George had an intellect that was top notch. But as Our Lord said,

Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

To Pray for the People of Egypt

—Feast of St. Gildas the Wise 

Back when I was really young, and when I knew everything, I was stationed in Cairo, Egypt. I was one of the Marine Security Guards at the U.S. Embassy there, back in the mid 1980's.

The War on Terror had begun, for me anyway, when the U.S. Embassy in Beirut was blown up.

For Faith In Action: The March For Life (Part II)

Chapter 3: The Youth Mass for Life.

When the idea to come to the March for Life came over me (see embedded link above), I knew that I wanted to attend Mass before the march began. I remembered where the Wee Kirk on the Hill is, and I also remembered a few other parishes from our trip back in the summer. I went to the March for Life website and clicked on the Factsheet to see if anything was planned worship-wise.

For Faith In Action: Patton, the Priest, and the Power of Prayer

-Feast of St. Sebastian 

I've been a bit martial in this space lately. Don't let it scare you. Yesterday, in a post on the Jesus Prayer, I mentioned that in combat, there is no time for analysis or planning. True, to a point. 

But in leading up to the fighting, there is time for this activity. Sometimes hours, days, and even weeks of it. It is vital to the success of military operations that this time be used wisely. And as this story will attest to, here also, the power of prayer is necessary. We may have forgotten how powerful prayer is.

Because, Believe It Or Not, It's Easy

How many high school seniors do you know who have a blog? To narrow that list down a bit, how many of them have one dedicated to blogging about the Catholic faith? Well allow me to introduce you to a young man who does just that.

He's young, smart, edgy, and reverently irreverent. In other words, he's the kind of Catholic I hope my kids meet up with and hang out with.