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July 5, 2017

Note from the Assistant Editor:

"If the concerns of contemporary man are centered almost exclusively on the economy, technology, and the immediacy of material happiness that has been wrongly sentimentalized, God becomes distant and the last things and eternity have unnecessarily become a sort of psychological burden...."  In such a situation, "the Church has only one option left."  See "You follow me" by Cardinal Robert Sarah.

Anthony Esolen writes about two men who stood up against the Nazi regime: Engelbert Dollfuss, Catholic Chancellor of Austria, and Dietrich von Hildebrand.  "Once, when von Hildebrand was visiting his old friend Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, he asked why Catholic prelates in Germany did not all stand up bravely against the stupidities of Nazism.  Pacelli shook his head sadly.  Martyrdom could not be commanded from Rome, he said.  Martyrdom had to come from within."  Dollfuss had this inner fire.  See "Whom You Must Resist, Firm in the Faith."

It is easy to succumb to acedia, "The Noonday Devil," especially when troubles beset us. 

David Warren assserts that instead of designating "Safe Spaces" within university campuses we should be designating specific "Unsafe Spaces" where challenging and difficult, even eccentric ideas might be espoused and debated."  See "Unsafe Spaces."

Then we have an interview with Archbishop Charles Chaput, who speaks on a post-Christian society, understanding the past, finding hope in our world, politics, marriage, the Benedict Option, protecting the innocence of children, disagreeing about the Pope, and living the Beatitudes.  "The world is in us, so we need to deal with it," he says.  "We need to be more radically faithful to the uncomfortable parts of our faith and teaching, not less."  Read the full interview here.

A final word from Fr.  George Rutler, who contrasts the call to virtue from men like Pope Benedict XVI with the assent to mediocrity by some others.  Read "Barbarian Hopes." - Meaghen Hale



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"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -George Orwell



New Resources


 
"You follow me" - Cardinal Robert Sarah - God or Nothing, A Conversation on Faith

Well, then, in such a complex era, where is the best path for the Church?


 
Whom You Must Resist, Firm in the Faith - Anthony Esolen - Magnificat

It is July 25, 1934. The scene is the chancellery of Austria.


 
The Noonday Devil: Acedia - Father Peter John Cameron, O.P. - Magnificat

One of the most helpful books I have read recently is Benedictine Abbot Jean-Charles Nault's superb The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times.


 
Unsafe Spaces - David Warren - The Catholic Thing

We should be designating specific Unsafe Spaces within university campuses.


 
Forgiving Ourselves - Father Jacques Philippe - from Real Mercy: Mary, Forgiveness and Trust

"I think God forgave me, but I don't seem to be able to forgive myself."


 
Archbishop: In 'post-Christian world' fidelity, charity, truth stand out - The Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput - The Catholic Weekly

In what ways do you understand us to be living in a "post-Christian world?"


 
St. Thomas More and London Bridge - K.V. Turley - Crisis Magazine

If you stand on London Bridge and look east you will see the Tower of London.


 
Barbarian Hopes - Father George W. Rutler - From the Pastor

The film Cabaret is better known these days than the novel The Berlin Stories on which its screenplay is based.


 
13th Sunday in OT - Father John Horgan - CERC

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

Editorials of Interest:

A "One Flesh" Sacramental Union - The Catholic Thing
Not the man of my dreams - Ignitum Today
Memory: Human and Divine - The Catholic Thing
The Creative Catholic: John C. Wright - Catholic World Report

Editorials of Interest


Are you pregnant? If so, Pope Francis has a message for you. - Aleteia

Let nothing rob you of the interior joy of motherhood.


The Magisterium: A Cheat Sheet - OnePeter5

The most surprising thing is that the Church doesn't have a single repository of knowledge about its own teaching office.


Interview: The husband of Chiara Corbella on his wife's sacrifice and possible canonization - Aleteia

"More than feeling that the world was against us, we knew that we were with the Lord."


Why Do Protestants Reject the Notion of "One True Church"? - NC Register

Once sola Scriptura is firmly in place, any final or authoritative notion of a visible, institutional Church bolstered by apostolic succession, whose teachings are authoritative and binding, has to go.


Rousseau, Sanders, and the Religious Test - First Things

Sanders recognizes that "there is no justice when so few have so much and so many have so little," but appears not to understand that there is no justice where religious liberty lacks protection.


Supreme Court rules in favor of church in crucial First Amendment case - CNA

In one of the biggest religious cases of the term, the US Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a church-owned playground can be eligible for a public benefit program.


Judge halts deportations of Chaldean Christians to Iraq - Catholic World Report

A district court judge on Thursday halted the deportation of more than 100 Iraqis, including many Chaldean Christians, who were recently picked up by immigration officers and detained.


Conflicts, campuses, and the return to Catholic commitments - Catholic World Report

Theology (and philosophy) must become once more the "queen of the sciences" reigning not for her own glory but in service of all the other disciplines, allowing for "all knowledge to form one whole," in Newman's idea of a university.


Does Teaching Religion "Brainwash" Kids? - Word on Fire

If you had a child and decided not to teach them how to speak (so that they could choose a language on their own as adults) you would be an awful parent.


Is teaching kids religion brainwashing them? - Aleteia

A recent survey found a majority of parents answered "yes" to this question, but one father explains what they're missing.


Mis-Educating the Young - NY Times

Childhood is more structured than it has ever been. But then the great engine of the meritocracy spits people out into a young adulthood that is less structured than it has ever been.


A "One Flesh" Sacramental Union - The Catholic Thing

The two-in-one-flesh bodily unity is foundational to the marital form of love.


Not the man of my dreams - Ignitum Today

It's amazing how your life can change when you start thinking about how to give of yourself rather than how someone can help you.


Why I Think Doctors Are Overprescribing the Pill - Verily

The Pill isn't the perfect solution everyone claims it is.


They're Not Fine: Why Surgery Doesn't Help People With Gender Dysphoria - The Stream

"Comorbid disorders are factual disabilities that are not being addressed. We're just giving them hormone therapy and changing their gender."


The little-known final interview of Ted Bundy: Porn motivated me - NC Register

Bundy granted his final interview to Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, in which he discussed pornography as a possible explanation for what drove his behavior.


Four Simple Tools to Help Navigate Your Way From Sin to Sanctity - Integrated Catholic Life

Even when we want to do what God wants, it's hard. Like a slightly disoriented navigator, we only need veer from our charted course by one degree to completely miss our target destination.


Memory: Human and Divine - The Catholic Thing

The reduction of memory to recall trivializes one of our greatest powers — and threatens our appreciation of the Eucharist.


The Creative Catholic: John C. Wright - Catholic World Report

"The writer's vocation is to write for some one person — a person he will never meet in this life — his favorite book."


Did You Know You Can Request Prayers from Nuns Online? - epicPew

A compilation of websites where one can request prayers from and donate to religious communities.


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

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