How can we know the Way? “Thy Word is a light to my feet and a lamp to my path.” Psalm 119:105 By Way of The Cross He leads us through both light and darkness. “My son, trust not to thy present feeling, for it will soon give way to another. As long as you… Read More Thomas a Kempis: “Do Not Trust Feelings”
When in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the avant-garde was given diverse powerful platforms to announce that traditional art forms were passé, and art galleries exchanged space for the mystic likes of Picasso, Surrealism, and, in some degree, Andy Warhol, etc., they arguably prepared the way for the denial of natural gender distinctions and the… Read More From Rembrandt to Picasso
“Without wonder, men and women would lapse into deadening routine and little by little would become incapable of a life which is genuinely personal”—Pope John Paul II Fides et Ratio,” meaning “Faith and Reason,” is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II published on September 14, 1998. It emphasizes the essential relationship between faith and… Read More Encyclical Letter ‘Faith and Reason’. Pope John Paul II.
The events of 1968 had a strong bearing on his shift to a more conservative outlook. Excerpted from “POPE BENEDICT XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger.” (c) 2000 by John L. Allen, Jr.The Continuum. Joseph Ratzinger arrived at Tübingen [University] in 1966, still enthusiastic about the promise of Vatican II and ready to take his… Read More How the ’60s Changed Ratzinger
Good Fences, Shared Bounty. Can it ever be wise to separate compassion, reasonable limits and common sense? If you have followed the immigration debates in the West in recent decades you will have long ago gotten a glimpse of the fears, greed, fanaticism and wars which, often enough, make many peoples in our post 9/11… Read More Immigration, Birds of a Feather and Trojan Horses
To be a Roman Catholic one must believe in miracles. This in itself has been a stumbling block to many. And yet the believer knows that one need only find the earth beneath one’s feet and all other genuine miracles become mere footnotes. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, originally a student of the intractable rationalist, Bertrand… Read More Wittgenstein and Existence.
C. S. Lewis’ witty and insightful criticisms of scientism, of the notion that the scientific enterprise alone can discover truth, that it can take the place of religious authority, of philosophical insight, and in fact of the whole tradition of humane wisdom, is well known.1 What has been less noted is the critique which he… Read More C.S. Lewis’ Critique of Scientific Knowledge by Thomas Storck
Apropos of everything: Because Martin Heidegger forsook his early roots in Thomistic [objective] Christian philosophy, the unapologetic Nazi who enjoyed philosophy was forced to create a new and eccentric philosophical superstructure [undecipherable and irrelevant to most human beings] to dodge the consequent existential void. It was necessary because his system toppled the Holy Trinity in… Read More Being and Bunk.
Karol Wojtyla (JPII) wrote, “A non-Catholic philosopher once said to me: ‘You know, I just can’t stop myself reading and rereading and thinking over the first three chapters of Genesis.’ And indeed it seems to me that unless one does so reflect upon that fundamental Ensemble of facts and situations it becomes extremely difficult if… Read More John Paul II on the Most Decisive Confrontation —and History’s ‘Last Lap’
Understanding the Epistemological Foundations of Scientific Totalitarianism. by Phillip D. Collins. Scientific totalitarianism is certainly not a new topic in the halls of political science and history. Given its bloody legacy of democide (i.e., state-sanctioned genocide, mass murder, and politicide) and its prolific spread throughout the world, scientific totalitarianism remains a preoccupying sociopolitical phenomenon of… Read More The Faustian Face of Modern Science
“The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners —-of whom I am the worst16 but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him… Read More God Is Not Out To ‘Get’ us. He is Out to Heal Us.
Cannot all the waters of the seven seas wash this blood clean from my hand? — Lady Macbeth Friends: It used to be that people escaped admitting their own guilt by blaming it on capitalism, communism, lack of soft drink parlors, Grade B milk, and naughty ductless glands. Now a new psychology arises to blame… Read More Morbidity, the Denial of Guilt, and Forgiveness. Archbishop Fulton J Sheen.
Perry is 33 years old, very intelligent, a writer, and she explains why she believes we as a culture have reverted to a hard paganism in America, for which we are paying a heavy price. She says it was the 1950’s understanding of male-female relationship and sexuality that got the truth of it all essentially… Read More Louise Perry Gets A Lot Right About the Sexual Revolution
Trump joins other world leaders at “reopening” of Notre Dame Cathedral. What burned in that fire and what is possibly being reborn? Antichristic Uncertainties. 12/7/24 + March 2025. Christians reportedly suffering increasing persecution in Syria + UN ignores Persecution of Christians + “…more than two Christian monuments are targeted EVERY day in France” + At… Read More Antichristic Uncertainties
Fetaltissue.org. 2021. | “Fetal tissue vaccines are the everyday means by which pro-lifers unawares develop some complicity in an industry they oppose. Our aim is to accessibly summarise the relevant facts regarding fetal tissue vaccines — which are obscured behind a veil of academia and technical jargon, concealing from the public legitimate moral & ethical… Read More Fetal Tissue Vaccines: 12 Faulty Assumptions
See also The Drama of Atheist Humanism Ignatius Press Fulton J. Sheen: “The Roots of Democracy and Peace. The word “crisis” in Greek means judgment. A crisis in history is therefore a “verdict of history” upon the way any given civilization has lived and thought, married and unmarried, bought and sold, prayed and cursed. That… Read More Democracy. Philosophies At War. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
“We, the Ordinary People of the Streets“. The words express the core of Madeleine Delbrel’s vision: These are the people who have an ordinary job, an ordinary household, or an ordinary celibacy. People with ordinary sicknesses, and ordinary times of grieving. People with an ordinary house, and ordinary clothes. These are the people of ordinary… Read More We the Ordinary
“The simplest truth about man is that he is a very strange being; almost in the sense of being a stranger on the earth. In all sobriety, he has much more of the external appearance of one bringing alien habits from another land than of a mere growth of this one. He cannot sleep in… Read More G. K. Chesterton on Man
“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”—Jn.16:33. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Mary as “blessed among women”. Pope John Paul II 1. The liturgy today commemorates theNativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.This feast, very important to popular piety, leads us to admire in Mary the… Read More Praying for the Children
The Battle for Britain and Beyond Jacob Rees-Mogg hosts John Anderson in his home for this Conversation. They discuss the roots and future of conservatism, British politics and economics, the role of the West in global affairs such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Chinese Communist Party, as well as diving into what motivates Jacob… Read More More Rees-Mogg. “The Family Precedes The State”.
CNA. After the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAFL) last month issued a booklet summarizing the Church’s teaching on a number of bioethical issues, the section on “artificial nutrition and hydration” (ANH) has some observers concerned about what they see as a departure from previous Church teaching. The Pontifical Academy for Life was founded in 1994 by St.… Read More Bioethicists scrutinize Pontifical Academy for Life’s new guidance on withdrawing food, water
After the horrors of World War II, it is little wonder that Pope John Paul II during his long pontificate placed such great emphasis on the “dignity of the human person” who is made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26,27) For this sacred dignity that he spoke of was utterly rejected by… Read More John Paul II, Benedict XVI and a New World Order
Right-Wing Extremism, Gov’t Report Warns… Feb. 2023. Author Douglas Murray published a scathing review of the British government’s counter-terrorism Prevent program, which has apparently reported that authors like George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis can radicalize readers. In his column, Murray described how Britain’s Prevent program was founded to support counter-terrorism efforts, but has gradually… Read More Reading ‘Lord Of The Rings’ And ‘1984’ Could Lead To…
… and Our time. Mark Groubert. “Whittaker Chambers is best known today as the veteran Soviet spy who became, in William F. Buckley Jr.’s words, “the most important American defector from Communism” when he testified against members of his underground Communist cell in the 1930s. Yet Chambers did more than reject Communism: He revealed a key… Read More The Whittaker Chamber – Alger Hiss Case
“To be an Olympian is to be entangled in a complex dialectic involving elitism and egalitarianism. The foundational elitism of the Olympian lies in self ascribed rationality, generally picked up on an academic campus. Egalitarianism involves a formal adherence to democracy as a rejection of all forms of traditional authority, but with no commitment to… Read More “Christophobia” and the West
What good is “progress” in the wrong direction Chesterton asked. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates… The Jetsons fantasy. After Oppenheimer? Really? But, the Progressives retort, it’s only crazy reactionaries who oppose Penicillin —or Planned Parenthood (as if these were morally equivalent) who oppose Progress. No specious rationalization can justify R&D technology for… Read More Localism — or what?
Modern or post-modern man (i.e., the human person, m/f) is characterized by and attached to ambiguity and relativity. Truth, the very notion of it, is suspect. As a human being, I am obliged to truly encounter my world, my times. It has engaged me. I am now 70 years old. I have tried to engage… Read More The Light and Life of Being
Geoffrey Everest Hinton is a British Canadian computer scientist and cognitive philospher most noted for his work on artificial neural networks. From 2013 to 2023, he divided his time working for Google (Google Brain) and the University of Toronto, before publicly announcing his departure from Google in May 2023, citing concerns about the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.[13] In 2017, he co-founded… Read More The Godfather of AI Has Regrets
Updated. Is the local government and local church involved in seeking to help? Why do some US cities struggle more with homelessness? A new book explores a key component of the issue: housing supply. [ Note / SH]: Illegal Substance Use Data also “show high rates of comorbid disorders such as anxiety disorders—which include generalized… Read More Homelessness, Housing Supply — and Co-morbid Disorders.
… but pay attention to what is said” — Thomas a’ Kempis, The Imitation of Christ. Begging With Confidence January 27, 2024 Around us, evil on evil is unfurled? “Fear not,” said Jesus, “I’ve overcome the world” (Jn. XVI, 33). On the last day of 2023 a Franciscan priest of the Capucin Friary of Morgon… Read More “Do not inquire, ‘Who said this?’
It is one thing for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be able to assimilate such a phenomenal amount of information. It’s another thing to be able to parse the information so effortlessly— and instantly? Anybody with a real brain must pay attention. Where is this taking us? To darkness or to mutual respect? That, as I… Read More “God,” Robots (AI), Christianity and Religion in General
Research associate at The Heritage Foundation Emma Waters weighs in on the ‘girl boss’ vs. ‘trad wife’ on social media. CC Note regarding radical feminism: “The corporate strategy has largely been: make children and families appear to be ‘oppression’ (the home a jail instead of a nest) and keep everyone f–king every which way (even… Read More Rise of the Tradwife: Gen Z Bringing Back Gender Roles
“The order marked for destruction can be summed up in one word: Europe—the intellectual and spiritual synthesis of Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem. The new totalitarianism proceeds by negating every form of transcendence, especially the religious truth and universal reason which Del Noce calls “Platonism.” It reconceives reality as “a system of forces, not of values.” Being… Read More Del Noce on Liberalism & the Scientism of Marx
The need to be in a state of grace to receive Communion (CCC 1385) Leila Miller: … Christ said marriage is a one flesh union. So anytime you’re ripping that living flesh apart, something is dying. I mean, something pretty serious is being lost. Trent Horn: Yeah, because we think about divorce, it’s always so… Read More Trent Horn on the Evil of Divorce and the Way to Healing.
“Does it make any sense today to write an encyclical to condemn communism? Or to condemn national socialism? No, they are dead, they are not the problem. Capitalism is the problem.” We must be clear. Catholic social teaching is neither capitalism nor socialism. Rocco “Buttiglione It is also important to stress that the Church does… Read More Capitalism is a Problem
Why “faith and culture”? Do they go together? Can they be separated? Can faith exist without culture? Can culture exist without faith? In the broadest sense of the word, faith and culture are inextricably connected because a culture is always an expression of the faith which informs it. If a culture is animated by a… Read More Faith and Culture by Joseph Pearce
By Laura Loker.The Pillar. America is facing a crisis of loneliness. With nationwide declines in social connectivity, even the U.S. surgeon general is concerned about the “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” facing Americans. And Catholics are not exempt from the crisis. But parishioners at St. Thérèse Little Flower in South Bend, Indiana, might just have… Read More Household’ gatherings offer intentional community at South Bend parish
Jennifer Bilek is a feminist and investigative journalist. She has investigated the connections between the Trans movements of our time. “Once we open the door to accepting vast changes to human biology, that undermine the very definition of what it means to be human as a sexually dimorphic species, we have opened up a Pandora’s… Read More Transhumanism Made Flesh
“The visionary chemist Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA’s master magician and gentlehearted torturer – the agency’s “poisoner in chief.” As head of the MK-ULTRA mind control project, he directed brutal experiments at secret prisons on three continents. He made pills, powders, and potions that could kill or maim without a trace – including some intended… Read More How Evil Thee, Sidney? How Evil We?
Vaclav Havel waves to crowds in Prague, shortly before becoming Czech president in December 1989. Kamila Valenta writes in America, “I was 17 years old when I heard the Lord’s Prayer spoken in public for the first time. It was in November 1989 during the Velvet Revolution, which brought freedom to Communist Czechoslovakia. The crowd… Read More The Lord’s Prayer, Freedom, and the Spiritual Vaclav Havel
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