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July 1, 2020

Note from the Assistant Managing Editor:

If you spend any amount of time online, it's hard not to be overwhelmed by doom and gloom.

At CERC, we work hard to present you with a balanced portfolio — taking the problems of the world seriously while always being "prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15).

Our reflection this week ends with such a simple but powerful message of hope.  "Jesus began a revolution from the cross.  Your revolution must begin from the Eucharistic table and has to be carried forward from there.  In this way you will be able to renew humanity."

What a relief to know that we can renew humanity if we start with Christ.

We are continuing our summer fundraiser.  Did you know that we have 21,238 subscribers?  If everyone one of you donated just $5, your generosity would cover our operating expenses for the entire year.

Please click here to donate today.  (And remember that everyone who donates $100 or more and all monthly donors will be entered to win a signed copy of either The Little Oratory by David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler and or The Wit and Wisdom of Fr. George Rutler).

Thank you for your generosity!



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"Tastes can vary, that is true, but it is only the barbarian who says that all taste is subjective. There is a hierarchy of standards for the good, the true, and the beautiful. If we do not conform ourselves to God as the source of these things, then we lose that triad. The good becomes mere sentimentality. The truth becomes mere pedantry. The beautiful becomes mere aestheticism." - Father George W. Rutler



New Resources


 
Gathering the Fragments, Gathering Humanity - Venerable Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan - from Five Loaves & Two Fish

"Were you able to celebrate the Eucharist in prison?" is one question that many people have asked me...


 
The Old Myth and the New - Thomas Howard - from Chance or the Dance?: A Critique of Modern Secularism

Thomas Howard explains in clear and beautiful prose the way materialism robs us of beauty, depth, and truth. With laser precision and lyrical ponderings he takes us through the dismal reductionist view of the world to the shimmering significance of the world as sign and sacrament.


 
An ordinary monk redefined extraordinary - Terry O'Neill - B.C. Catholic

It's been said that you should live your life not to fill your resume, but to fill your eulogy.


 
The choleric outbreak - Theodore Dalrymple - The New Criterion

On anger and its contemporary causes.


 
An Honest Conversation about the Modern Family - Leila Miller - Chaste Love

If we recognize that love is about the other, then the beauty of marriage suddenly opens up to us.


 
Brother John - Brad Miner - The Catholic Thing

February 18th was the 565th anniversary of the death of the Early Renaissance artist Fra Angelico.


 
The perdurance of the truly faithful - Father George W. Rutler - From the Pastor

As the local churches gradually open again, one is reminded of the persistence of Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, president of the College of William and Mary, ringing the school bell during seven years of closure after the Civil War.

Editorials of Interest:

The Oddity of the Artist - Dappled Things
SCOTUS erases womanhood - Ruth Institute
Ahistorical Activism - First Things
Dumb reopening might just work - The Grumpy Economist
Journalism self-destructs - The New Criterion
JUMP - Medium

Editorials of Interest


Pope Francis declares Catholic sister killed in Satanic ritual a martyr - CWR

In 2000, the 60-year-old Sister of the Cross was stabbed to death by three teenage girls in a park in Chiavenna, Italy.


Archbishop Vigano Interviewed by Phil Lawler - Catholic Culture

Lawler: First, what are you saying about Vatican II? That things have gone downhill fast since then is certainly true. But if the whole Council is a problem, how did that happen?


Vigano contra Benedict - L'Espresso

Pop Benedict XVI could not have imagined when he made Archbishop Vigano apostolic nuncio to the United States that today he would be blaming him for having "deceived" the whole Church by his support for Vatican II.


Having a sister can be a pathway to holiness - Aleteia

Science says growing up with a sister makes you more positive and increases the chances of being happy in life.


Finding God in Shanghai: a Chinese convert's path to faith - CWR

At his baptism at a Catholic church in Shanghai, Dalù said that he "cried like a baby" knowing that his sins were being washed away.


The Oddity of the Artist - Dappled Things

"Let us be silent in order to hear the whispers of God" - Ralph Waldo Emerson.


America's Fatherless Ache Exposed by Humble YouTube Dad - Intellectual Takeout

Seeking to be a help to others, a young man posted a link to his father's new YouTube channel titled "Dad, how do I?"


A Striking Display of Sophistry - First Things

The Supreme Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County gives the LGBT movement a powerful bulldozer with which to demolish all public expressions of dissent from its agenda.


Catholic priest among defenders of St Louis statue - CNA

Fr. Stephen Schumacher, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was among the defenders of a prominent statue of the city’s namesake as protesters called for its removal Saturday.


The Most Motivating Talk I've Ever Heard - YouTube

It is time to fight. It is time to witness.


SCOTUS erases womanhood - Ruth Institute

"The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against science, common sense and the bedrock of Western Civilization when it redefined 'sex' to include gender identity and thereby erased females from American law."


What Are the Adverse Consequences of Gorsuch's Bostock Ruling? - National Review

He won't contemplate them. But bring on the lawsuits, he suggests, so we can all find out.


Ahistorical Activism - First Things

Are we more moral than our ancestors?


America's Jacobin Moment - WSJ

The cultural putsch in America's institutions strikes at liberal values.


America Is on the Road to Relapse Not Recovery - Bloomberg

The U.S. isn't following the example of countries that have shown what a "smart reopening" entails.


Apocalyptic science: How the West is destroying itself - Business Insider

Junk Science Week: New academic doctrines dismiss science — real science — in favour of political agendas, in which theory trumps facts.


Can Catholics support 'Black Lives Matter'? - CWR

Catholic leaders say the Church has an important role in working for racial justice, but that protesting for justice does not imply endorsement of the positions taken by Black Lives Matter organizations.


Dumb reopening might just work - The Grumpy Economist

A smart reopening, with well worked out protocols at work, and a robust competent test and trace public health response to stamp out the embers, seems unlikely.


Journalism self-destructs - The New Criterion

On the willful myopia of the press and its readership.


JUMP - Medium

An idea is now capable of almost immediately crippling the world. There is only one question that should be consuming us today: What else is possible?


Social media make us JUMP to false conclusions - Acton Institute

To emerge from this crisis of institutions and government, we must first govern ourselves.


The 'cancel' crew will come for you someday soon - NY Post

A moral panic is sweeping the nation. How we react to the pitchfork hordes will determine the fate of our country for a generation or longer.


Will Nancy Pelosi take a page from her father's playbook? - First Things

Many Catholic schools in the United States are in serious trouble because of COVID-19.


An alien census in a lonely cosmos - CWR

The quest for extraterrestrials involves a lot of big numbers and an equally large amount of faith.


St. John Henry Cardinal Newman and
St. Justin Martyr, pray for us

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