Nicolas Poussin, The Institution of the Eucharist (1640) Tonight marks the beginning of Triduum, the most sacred season of the year. It’s the three day period lasting from Holy Thursday evening until Easter. It’s here, on Holy Thursday, that Christ institutes the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Here’s how St. Paul describes it in tonight’s… Continue reading A Holy Thursday Challenge
Author: Joe Heschmeyer
A Biblical “Easter Egg” in the Passion of Jesus Christ
A subtle or hidden feature, particularly in a movie or game, is often referred to as an “Easter egg,” because it’s something that you have to hunt for. The Bible is full of things like this – subtle references are easy to overlook, even upon repeated readings. So, for example, take this line from Mark 15:21:… Continue reading A Biblical “Easter Egg” in the Passion of Jesus Christ
Stephen Colbert and the Death of Protestant America
Stephen Colbert, 2007(Photo: David Shankbone) Certain events, small in themselves, can serve as cultural bellwethers, pointing to the direction that the culture is going as a whole. Two years ago, we saw one of these in the replacement of the Supreme Court’s last Protestant, Justice David Souter (an Episcopalian), with Justice Sonia Sotomayor (a Catholic).… Continue reading Stephen Colbert and the Death of Protestant America
Help Fund a Nun!
Update: See below. My friend Mary Beth Baker is entering the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecila, better known as the Nashville Dominicans. It’s a good example of God’s sense of humor, since she’s been running a blog about life as a single Catholic girl in D.C. for some time now. She’s actually the second of… Continue reading Help Fund a Nun!
Rwanda and Forgiveness, Twenty Years On
The skull, Rosary, and belongings of a genocide victim,Genocide Memorial Center, Kigali, Rwanda. Twenty years ago today, the unthinkable occurred: a post-Holocaust genocide. On April 7th, 1994, in the east African nation of Rwanda, militant Hutus began a 100-day of terror, slaughtering countless Tutsis, along with Twa (Rwandan pygmies) and moderate Hutus. All told, an… Continue reading Rwanda and Forgiveness, Twenty Years On
Four Surprising Facts About John Calvin and the “Apocrypha”
One of the major issues dividing Catholics and Protestants is the Bible. Catholic Bibles have seven Books that Protestants reject: Protestants call these Books “the Apocrypha,” while Catholics call them “the Deuterocanon.” This dispute matters, because it’s hard to agree on what Scripture says if we can’t even agree on what Scripture is, on which Books are… Continue reading Four Surprising Facts About John Calvin and the “Apocrypha”
Moral Relativism, Conscience, and G.E.M. Anscombe
What should we make of the idea that there’s no such thing as objective morality: that morals are just determined by cultures, or by individuals? That’s at the heart of a question that I address in the essay below. It’s taken from a draft of a midterm that I wrote dealing with moral relativism — more… Continue reading Moral Relativism, Conscience, and G.E.M. Anscombe
The Two Liturgical Rules I Wish Everyone Would Follow
There are lots of fights over the way that the Mass is celebrated, and about liturgical beauty more broadly. I think it would help to bear in mind two rules, both of which are borne out a simple reality: the Mass is the place in which we encounter Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. With that… Continue reading The Two Liturgical Rules I Wish Everyone Would Follow
From Pew Potato to Here: A More Personal Note
Joe Bollig wrote a very generous write-up of yours truly in this week’s Leaven. It goes a bit more into personal back-story than I normally do around these parts, including the role of Fr. Andrew Strobl in saving my soul: There was time in Heschmeyer’s life when you could have called him a “pew potato.”… Continue reading From Pew Potato to Here: A More Personal Note
What Both Sides of the Abortion Debate Can Learn from “My Body, My Choice”
One of the most common slogans in defense of abortion is “My Body, My Choice.” It’s an appeal to bodily autonomy, and it’s not all wrong. In fact, I think that there’s a lot that both sides can learn from it. I. What “My Body, My Choice” Gets Right Although it’s just a slogan, “My Body,… Continue reading What Both Sides of the Abortion Debate Can Learn from “My Body, My Choice”