Two famous Catholics right died recently, in short succession: Robert Novak and Eunice Kennedy Shriver. We said a special prayer for them today (yesterday, technically, since it’s after midnight here on the east coast), since both of them occasioned the Catholic Information Center. Shriver was a customer, and Novak was actually baptized at the CIC,… Continue reading Robert Novak and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, RIP
Tag: faith
Laypeople in the (Online) New Evangelization
Pope John Paul II called for a “New Evangelization” to build a civilization of love. You can read about it here, if you’re not familiar. One of the problems cited in the context of the Americas is “the scarce presence—in certain cases, the complete absence—of the Church in the field of the means of social… Continue reading Laypeople in the (Online) New Evangelization
Fr. William Most on Total Depravity
Fr. Most wrote a section in Grace, Predestination, and the Salvific Will of God which I think unintentionally adds to this discussion (I say unintentionally, because his focus wasn’t answering Calvinism or total depravity; it was answering arguments raised by the early Thomists which resemble Calvinism substantially in many features). The section in question is… Continue reading Fr. William Most on Total Depravity
C.S. Lewis on Total Depravity
I picked up a copy of The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis tonight, and found a part that I’d read a few weeks ago, and was surprised by. Specifically, it’s where Lewis says this: Any consideration of the goodness of God at once threatens us with the following dilemma. On the one hand, if… Continue reading C.S. Lewis on Total Depravity
The Road to Recovery
This week, we’ve looked at how certain diseased elements within the Catholic Church: looking specifically at parts of the American Catholic Church and at the Jesuits. What’s most striking about this latter example is that the Jesuits, the religious order most openly in dissent from Rome, is also the religious order which takes a special… Continue reading The Road to Recovery
Unnamed Women Deacons We Know By Name!?
It might be mean to pick on them, since they’re seriously ill (spiritually, and hopefully not mentally), but this was too funny to pass up: “Womenpriests.org” has a webpage on women deacons, who they allege existed in history. What they’re (not subtly) trying to do is creep into the priesthood via the deaconate. The idea… Continue reading Unnamed Women Deacons We Know By Name!?
It’s A Poor Builder Who Blames His Instruments…
…while the Master Builder can build masterpieces with any set of tools. Or fools. In an ongoing discussion with one of my Calvinist friends a few weeks ago, he said, “I fear that the heirarchies of the Catholic church detract from the kingship of Christ, who I believe needs no prime minister and serves actively… Continue reading It’s A Poor Builder Who Blames His Instruments…
Contraception and Homosexuality
Archbishop Rowan Williams, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, had this to say on the topic of homosexuality and contraception: In a church that accepts the legitimacy of contraception, the absolute condemnation of same-sex relations of intimacy must rely either on an abstract fundamentalist deployment of a number of very ambiguous biblical texts, or… Continue reading Contraception and Homosexuality
Anglicanism: Rotting From the Top Down?
Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has caught my attention lately. If you’re not aware, he’s the head of the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church here in the US. The man is something of a tragic figure. He’s usually painted as a conservative who’s too diplomatic or weak-willed to impose his brand of orthodoxy… Continue reading Anglicanism: Rotting From the Top Down?
An Answer to Yesterday’s Question
My girlfriend raised two good points yesterday regarding the placement of people at the Last Supper: (1) Judas sitting on Jesus’ right wouldn’t mean that he was dipping with his left hand. He’d just be reaching across his body to dip. This was pretty obvious, once she said it. I don’t know how I missed… Continue reading An Answer to Yesterday’s Question