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.

Thoughts on the Economy, Catholic and Not

Ok, class. Today's lesson is on a little thing called "regression to the mean." That's a fancy way of saying that when something gets out of whack, you know, like when one thing shoots for the stars while everything else is holding steady, see, well, it will move back to where it belongs. And usually suddenly. Like a bursting bubble, which by now everyone with a pulse and a 401k is familiar with. Right?

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.

For Anti-Democratic, Dictatorship Loving, Theocratic Fascist Thoughts...Not!

Check out my cool sword! Can't wait to use it... 

There I was, writing about pluralism. So my friend Mark Shea has been catching some heat lately for commenting on a video where self-proclaimed Catholic role-model, and all around knowledgeable guy, Michael Voris, blasts the hymn Amazing Grace for leading all Catholics into perdition's flames. There's a host of similar conspiracies that have been hatched on us too, and MV dutifully warns us of them all.

Thoughts on Obedience and Reading Maps without Guidance

Today, while make the rounds around the blogger neighborhood, I saw a great quote on a subject that is not near and dear to the heart of modern mankind: obedience. Deacon Greg Kandra shared the thoughts of a modern saint on the subject,

Christian Thoughts On Private Property: What Ayn Rand Missed, Part II

Still in my library, I found the following selection on the subject of private property, and of "the state," in Life of Leo XIII And the History Of His Pontificate. Ayn Rand missed this book as well as Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum. Perhaps this is just a case of too much writing and too little research. That's what I think anyway. Of course, she was a novelist, so facts weren't necessary (head-slap).

Christian Thoughts On Private Property: What Ayn Rand Missed

It's been a couple of weeks since publishing my last post on Ayn Rand.Things have settled down a bit here and now I can turn my attention to what she missed regarding a concept that is near and dear to all of her devotees: the concept of private property.

To Join the Ayn Rand Busters? To Be A Hero? I'm In!

Hey, look at the calendar. The election cycle is coming around again! Time to check our brains at the door and just go with our gut feelings. Embrace fuzzy math concepts like 1 + 1 = 3.18275. Stuff like that.

Forget the real substantive issues we can actually do something about, like fixing Social Security's looming bankruptcy, and instead focus on bankrupting ourselves by bombing Yemen. Sweet!

Because the Sexual Abuse Scandal is Like The Ribbon Creek Incident

-Feast of St. Charles Lwanga & Companions

All of you who have never heard of the Ribbon Creek Incident, say "aye!"

Now, all of you who remember those pesky SAT analogy questions that went like this,

apple is to tree, as fish is to _________. a) Christians; b) water; c) sharks; d) pole

say "aye!"

I hope when reading that expression, you went with "b" as your answer.

Because Blaise Pascal Spoke Truth to Power Like this

I love Blaise Pascal. I've said that before a number of times. The guy accomplished more in the thirty-nine short years of his life than I ever will, and I look forward to sharing a beer with him in Heaven. And if he doesn't like beer, I'll share a glass of wine with him instead.

He is a mathematical genius who can also write well. His Pensées are easy to read, easy to understand, and he gets right to the point. And as unlikely as our friendship may seem to you (dead guy genius befriends knuckle-headed, and still living, Marine), the Holy Spirit brought us together. So go figure.

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.

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. 

For Napoleon's Answer to the Question "Who Is Jesus Christ?"

-Feast of St. Berthold 

Back in January, I reviewed Eric Sammon's book, Who Is Jesus Christ? It is a great book and I highly recommend it to you. Many have asked themselves the same question about the identity of the obscure Jewish carpenter from Galilee.

Last week I shared with you the knowledge that Napoleon Bonaparte died a good Catholic death. Today, as I was reading a selection available on the YIMCatholic Bookshelf, I stumbled across Napoleon's answer to this very question.

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 Dracula was Catholic? Oh My!

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Yesterday, I did something that I can only explain by pointing to the fact that I am a Catholic. I said a prayer for the soul of Dracula. No, not for Bram Stoker's fictional vampyre version of him, but for the real Dracula. That's right, Vlad "the Impaler."

For all we really now, he died a hero and a good Catholic. Bear with me for a second.

For Help Reading Maps Correctly

I have a friend who can't understand why I enjoy being a Catholic.

From discussions I have had with him, it appears that he believes I am now enslaved by an organization that is run by a tyrant who bears the title of "Pope." I reckon that his libertarian tendencies bristle at the very idea of submitting to an authority, even if that authority is ordained  and conferred by Christ Himself.

For Dom Lou's Thoughts on The Effects of Secularization in China

—Feast of St. Vincent de Paul

I just finished reading Lou Tseng-Tsiang's Ways of Confucius and of Christ.  In the latter pages of the book, he gives a seminar in Chinese history that I think you may find of interest. Secularization of a culture, the scrubbing away of their religious heritage, is not some new idea.

This new, new thing, is really nothing more than "been there, done that." Would it come as a shock to you to learn that the best laid plans of purifying Chinese culture of its religious roots simply opened the door to a foreign religion coming in to fill the void? Cultural relativism, and the dictatorship thereof, is something that Dom Lou explains happened in China long, long ago.

Thanks to the Wee Kirk on The Hill

My family and I went to the Washington D.C. area on our vacation this year. We had a blast seeing as many of the museums and memorials as we could. We took it all in, from the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia, to the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art on the Mall. We walked for miles, baked in the heat, or outran thunderstorms, depending on the weather. But what moved me the most was something unexpected that I discovered on Capitol Hill.

Because Once Upon A Time, The Premier of China Was A Catholic

Imagine that you woke up to the news this morning that a former President of the United States, say Jimmy Carter for example, has just held a press conference saying that he has entered the Abbey at Gethsemane to become a Cistercian monk. Would you be flabbergasted? Amazed? Incredulous? Or would you be intrigued? That's how I felt when I learned the news that I am going to share with you today.

I am humbled, though,  to report the following story to you, but here goes. Just like the title of this post claims, at one time the Premier of China was a Catholic. And I'm not talking about the Island of Formosa either. I mean mainland China, before Mao Zedong took over. Why, you may ask, is this humbling to learn?

Because Lena Horne Found Solace in the Church

Once I read that her funeral was to be held in a Roman Catholic Church, I kept reading obituaries of Lena Horne, hoping to find clues to her own faith journey. Ms. Horne, an African-American who broke racial barriers in the entertainment industry, died last week at age 92. I never did find an article explaining how this amazing civil rights activist and entertainer chose to have her funeral in a Catholic Church, but here is what I could glean. I pray that her enchanting voice is joining the chorus of angels in eternity.