Roberto de Mattei. “In the Gospels, Jesus makes use of many metaphors to describe the Church He founded. One of the most fitting is the image of the boat threatened by the tempest (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25). This image was often used by the Church Fathers and saints, who spoke of the Church… Read More The “true reform” that the Church needed in the 20th century
Introduction to Theology. |By Carl F.H. Henry. SPEAK OF AN INTRODUCTION to God, or to the science of God, and some people are sure to look for the nearest exit. An introduction to sex techniques—now there’s a best seller! Or a manual (not on avoiding the rise and fall of the American empire but) on… Read More Carl F.H. Henry on The Matter of Belief Today
By James J. Thompson Jr. | New Oxford Review. | Does God answer prayer? Christians respond to such a query with a mixture of bewilderment and irritation. Who but unbelievers and those of little faith would even think to pose the question? One need only turn to the Gospel of St. Luke to find Christ’s unequivocal… Read More Jacques Ellul’s ‘Prayer and Modern Man’
“The Saint is a medicine because he is an antidote. Indeed that is why the saint is often a martyr; he is mistaken for a poison because he is an antidote. He will generally be found restoring the world to sanity by exaggerating whatever the world neglects, which is by no means always the same… Read More Saints of Flesh and Blood
Carlo Carretto1910-1988 “How much I must criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer more than anyone and yet I owe more to you than to anyone. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal and… Read More Love Letter to the Church. Carlo Carreto.
Best friends & much more forever 51 years and counting in 2025-26 Kahlil Gibran “You were born [again]] together, and together you shall be forevermore… But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.” ‘For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health… Read More In Sickness and in Health, For Better or for Worse, for Richer or for poorer…till death do we part.
Pianist and conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn reflects on growing up in exile as the son of Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, moving from Soviet persecution to a quiet childhood in rural Vermont. Ignat recounts how music, faith, and Russian culture sustained his family far from home, how cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich helped set him on a… Read More Ignat Solzhenitsyn in Conversation with Peter Robinson
ACI Prensa. EWTN. Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher spoke at the event “A Common Front for Human Dignity: Preventing the Commodification of Women and Children in Surrogacy.” And 2026: Year of Saint Francis. By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations of the Holy See, described the practice of… Read More Archbishop Gallagher: Surrogacy is a ‘new form of colonialism’
Steve Turner in his important 2016 book, Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year, relates what John Lennon told him regarding his view of Jesus Christ; “Once he left school and music began to take up more of his free time,” Turner says, “John stopped attending church, but wealth, adulation, and his drug experiences made him reconsider… Read More John Lennon and The Gospel “Bullshit”
Not that I can ever fully trust Google or Facebook, but I asked A.I Gemini (Google) for an objective evaluation of CatholicCritique.com. First, in another session elsewhere, Search Assist AI quotes Julian Assange saying of another venue, “Facebook is the “most appalling spying machine” ever invented, suggesting that it allows U.S. intelligence agencies to gather personal… Read More Gemini / Google Evaluation of Catholic Critique
“Classical music has evolved through several distinct historical periods, including the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras, each characterized by unique styles and compositional techniques. This evolution reflects changes in cultural contexts, musical tastes, and the development of new instruments and forms over time. Overview of Classical Music Evolution Classical music has evolved… Read More The Evolution of Classical Music
One man wrote …, I wanted to encourage him since I too know the struggles of coming to the piano late in life. I wrote, “Keep going, sir. Look up Phillip Springer (shown here below) still playing at 94, all bent and gnarled. Nothing keeps down the human spirit that wants to soar 🚀 Beethoven,… Read More The Fab Three — and The Student.
Foreword to Dietrich von Hildebrand’s book by Manfred Honeck (and see a conversation with Manfred Honeck on great composers below). He writes, “THIS LITTLE BOOK IS A TREASURE, not only because it discusses three of the greatest composers, but also because the author is willing actually to engage with their music. It does not claim… Read More Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert
Music is universal. When the message is not truly bad it is good enough, and cheers the human heart in recreation. John Paul II reminded us that whatever is truly and universally human participates in the essential goodness of Creation. Only we can wreck that! (Phil. 4:8) If all music had to be overtly religious… Read More Play skilfully
The Pillar wrote earlier this month: “The Holy See is expected to announce in coming weeks a date for the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the Emmy-winning American prelate known for catechetical television programs in the 1950s and 1960s. Sheen, who came within three weeks of a scheduled beatification in 2019, is expected to be… Read More Fulton Sheen beatification expected to be announced
“First off, I want the US to acquire Greenland — fairly and legally. But this is extortion against America’s allies. It cannot be the case that this or any American president has the power to do this. It’s obscene. He’s not … Caesar!”
Q: Why is there no black note between B and C or between E and F? Well, this is a simple sounding question with a not very simple answer. You’ll need to be sitting up in your seat for this one! Too, from musicstackexchange.com Why do B and C and E and F not have a sharp note between them? Simply because, acoustically speaking, there… Read More Music Theory and The Monks 🎹
President Trump initially shifted on the Hyde Amendment. EWTN News: U.S. bishops and Catholic pro-life organizations will be watching to see if President Donald Trump’s health care plan includes pro-life language. Trump has faced criticism over the past week from pro-life activists after he urged Republican lawmakers to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment when negotiating extensions… Read More Trump to negotiate with Congress over pro-life protections in health plan
By now we’ve all long heard Cohen’s honest testimonial to the faltering universal holy quest. “I’ve heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the lordBut you don’t really care for music, do you? It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor fall, now the major liftThe baffled king composing… Read More Who Hasn’t Known the Broken Chord?
By Thomas Merton. “Today the first and perhaps the only duty of the philosopher is to defend man against himself: to defend man against that extraordinary temptation toward inhumanity to which—almost without being aware of it—so many human beings today have yielded. — GABRIEL MARCEL “As long as I am obsessed with the need to… Read More A Response to Questions on Art and Freedom
Today, I feel like being a lot bolder and more blunt in this blog. There’s this thing that’s been bothering me for years, so here it goes. I hope I don’t get judged for being vulnerable and extremely open on this, but let’s be real—we’ve all had those “what was I thinking?” years … Neither… Read More The Truth, The Mess, and The DNA Test.
Francis Albert Sinatra (/sɪˈnɑːtrə/; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the “Chairman of the Board” and “Ol’ Blue Eyes“, he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century.[1] Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era. He joined the Harry James band as… Read More Sinatra in the studio
“With the proliferation of systems, methods, concepts and philosophical theses which are often extremely complex, the need for a critical discernment in the light of faith becomes more urgent, even if it remains a daunting task. Given all of reason’s inherent and historical limitations, it is difficult enough to recognize the inalienable powers proper to… Read More The Church and Philosophical Discernment.
“George Harrison played a crucial role in the production of “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” (1979) by financing the film after EMI Films withdrew their support just before filming began. He mortgaged his home to provide the necessary funds, stating he wanted to see the movie made, which has been described as the “world’s most… Read More George Harrison and The Life of Brian
by Thomas Storck. What is needed is a real debate on religious questions providing a rational public apologetic for the faith. “For we were not following fictitious tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his grandeur.” – 2 Peter 1:16 The… Read More The Catholic Faith Is Not a Noble Lie
The late philosopher, William Barrett, in his famous book on Existentialism entitled Irrational Man, writes of faith and reason, “THOUGH strongly colored by Greek and Neo-Platonic influences, Christianity belongs to the Hebraist rather than to the Hellenist side of man’s nature because Christianity bases itself above all on faith and sets the man of faith… Read More Whose Wisdom? Whose Reason?
Full length presentation below the powerful first, brief, video. “A fascinating new look at the biblical, historical, and scientific evidence for Creation and the Flood. Learn from more than a dozen scientists and scholars as they explore the world around us in light of Genesis. St. Alphonsus Liguori: “It is a certain rule, received in… Read More Is Genesis History?
—- Or, Why My Favorite Moggs Reads The Sun Religiously. Prince Harry is reportedly planning to extend an olive branch to King Charles by inviting him to open the Invictus Games in the UK in 2027, which some say could help mend their long-standing rift. . Page Six The US Sun. But that’s just the half of… Read More Moggs’ WiseHead Revisited.
The Telegraph, UK. Rory Stewart is wrong about everything, but he gets away with it because he is posh. Fans of The Rest is Politics believe the social status of a political opinion matters more than its accordance with reality. The former Conservative minister’s career is a reminder there is no limit to how wrong you… Read More Rory Stewart is wrong about everything, but he gets away with it because he is posh
“The Russian intelligentsia produced a faith based upon a strange syllogism: ‘Man is descended from the apes, therefore we must love one another.’” — Vladimir Solovyev. On Lenin’s desk in the Kremlin there stood, for most of the years he worked there, a strange bronze statue of an ape gazing with an expression of profound… Read More Lenin, the Ape and the Skull
[Link below has been repaired]. Through her wonderful gift of music (e.g. this … and this) she asks the most fundamental question everyone must ask. Existence itself poses the question. And implicit in the question is the answer. The resurrection of Christ confirmed the Gospel, splitting time in half, into a ‘before’ and ‘after’. Who… Read More The One Thing Necessary
By Edward Pentin Jan 10, 2026 / 11:30 am / Catholic News Agency Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun delivered a forceful critique of synodality at the extraordinary consistory of cardinals this week, decrying the process as an “ironclad manipulation” that was an “insult to the dignity of the bishops.” The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong also described… Read More At consistory, Cardinal Zen slams synodality as ‘ironclad manipulation’ and ‘insult’ to bishops
The state of Colorado will have to pay out a massive $5.4 million sum after it lost in its attempt to ban abortion pill reversal. The state suffered a decisive loss in federal court in August 2025 when U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico said that Colorado’s abortion pill reversal ban interfered with the religious rights of nurses… Read More The ‘A’ Word. Colorado to pay out $5.4 million after court strikes down abortion pill reversal ban
“Under Nicolás Maduro’s administration thousands of people died in extrajudicial killings and seven million Venezuelans were forced to flee the country due to economic collapse.” —Wikipedia. “Venezuela has been a significant transit hub for drug trafficking, particularly cocaine, due to its proximity to Colombia, which is the primary source of cocaine. The Venezuelan government, under Nicolás Maduro, has been… Read More Nice Smile
Learning the First Notes All Over Again. In Fellini’s film “Orchestra Rehearsal” the Conductor suddenly found himself in the midst of a revolt. The musicians had long murmured against the Conductor on account of his rigorous methods, demands and practice sessions. The exchanges between them and he were bitter. And time did not heal the… Read More Fellini’s Orchestra Rehearsal.
With Ross Douthat, NYT. What should the U.S. do next in Venezuela? President Trump’s former Venezuela envoy Elliott Abrams wants the Trump administration to push harder for full regime change. But, he and Ross debate if a democratic transition is even possible based on the administration’s interests and past American efforts in the region.
Emmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher (1905–1950) who founded the journal Esprit in 1932 and led the French personalist movement during the 1930s. His philosophy of personalism is a Christian-inspired response to the crises of modernity, including economic depression, fascism, communism, and the depersonalizing effects of individualism and collectivism. It positions the human person as… Read More The Gospel Personalism of Emmanuel Mounier
Against Partiality. James Chapter 2. 2 My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and you pay attention to the one who… Read More Our Sunday Best.
By Joseph Pearce | National Catholic Register. Imagine a world in which evil actions did not have evil consequences… History shows that evil movements rise and fall, but God’s plan remains sovereign — and Christians need not fear the outcome. We live in a world in which all sorts of evil things happen and, which… Read More Are Things As They Should Be?
Sec. of State Rubio takes aim at UN. US president says a military operation in Colombia ‘sounds good’ to him and warns Mexico ‘to get their act together’. The United States President Donald Trump has threatened military action against his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, following Washington’s abduction of Venezuela’s leader, and said he believed the government… Read More Trump threatens Colombia’s Petro, says Cuba looks ‘ready to fall’
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