Jonathan Capehart has written a great short piece discussing a recent town hall with President Obama involving the slur “acting white,” often used to denigrate academically-interested African-Americans (as if intelligence and education are the sole province of a single race). Both Capehart and Obama thoughtfully repudiate the notion that there is tension between “being black”… Continue reading Obama the Traditionalist: What Catholics Can Learn from President Obama
Tag: apologetics
Rome and Relics
For the next few weeks, I’m going to be doing Italian immersion in Assisi, and so I will be monitoring the blog rarely, if at all. In the meantime, I wanted to talk about one of the really striking parts about being a Catholic in Rome: there are relics everywhere. This allows for something amazing… Continue reading Rome and Relics
On Planting Seeds, and Sowing Them
Yesterday morning (about 8:30 a.m. local time, but 1:30 a.m. back in Kansas City), I arrived here in Rome. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life; as you may recall, my bishop asked me and my classmate Carter to study at the North American College in Rome. This means that we will… Continue reading On Planting Seeds, and Sowing Them
Bearing the Yoke of the Cross
Two oxen sharing a yoke In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and… Continue reading Bearing the Yoke of the Cross
The Universal Call to Holiness: The Antidote to Clericalism
You don’t have to be a priest, nun or monk to be a Saint. We need Saints who are homemakers, construction workers, and even lawyers. Today is the feast day of St. Josemaria, Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, and one of my favorite Saints. He helped sound a vitally important wakeup call within the Church,… Continue reading The Universal Call to Holiness: The Antidote to Clericalism
Living by the Bread from Heaven: The Eucharist and Trust in God
Peter Paul Rubens, The Israelites Gathering Manna in the Desert (1627) In today’s First Reading, Moses reminds the Israelites of how God fed them “with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from… Continue reading Living by the Bread from Heaven: The Eucharist and Trust in God
Why Should We Trust the Bible?
How do we know the we can trust the Bible? For that matter, how do we know which Books make up “the Bible” in the first place? And how do we know whose interpretation of Scripture is correct? Here’s the talk that I gave on the subject last Wednesday. Here’s the talk (broken up into four… Continue reading Why Should We Trust the Bible?
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: How Can We Know It’s True?
That’s the theme of the talk I gave last Wednesday. You can see the whole talk here (I’ve also embedded the video, in four parts, below). Here’s a copy of the materials that I handed out: it’ll be easier to follow the talk if you watch (or listen to) the video while reading along: KNOW YOUR… Continue reading The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: How Can We Know It’s True?
Do Protestant Views on the Eucharist and Religious Imagery Contradict?
There are a lot of Protestants, particularly Evangelicals within the Calvinist tradition, who hold (a) that symbolic depictions of Christ, like the Crucifix, are idolatrous and wrong, and (b) that the Eucharist is a religious symbol. As far as I can tell, these two views just can’t be reconciled; at least, not without declaring Christ… Continue reading Do Protestant Views on the Eucharist and Religious Imagery Contradict?
Abortion, and the Undermining of Democracy
Chief Photographer’s Mate (CPHoM) Robert F. Sargent,Into the Jaws of Death (1944) Today, we commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the storming of the beaches of Normandy by Allied soldiers in World War II. There, the forces of democracy helped bravely battle back the forces of tyranny and oppression. As such, it seems a fitting… Continue reading Abortion, and the Undermining of Democracy