Note from the Assistant Editor:
We begin this week with a reflection on the ego-shattering nature of faith, in which I become "the 'we' of the Church, one with the common 'I' of Jesus Christ." See "Such Faith."
"Sigrid Undset, for my money, is the greatest woman novelist who ever lived," says Anthony Esolen in "Speaking the Painful Truth" — and I'm inclined to agree. Kristin Lavransdatter is one of the most powerful novels I have ever experienced. "The Faith," says Esolen, "gave Sigrid Undset eyes, and heart, and a pen to write words as if etched in stone by fire."
Judging moral actions does not mean condemning — but rather sharing the truth. "Relativism hinders us from loving people" because it stops us from seeking the best for others. See "'Don't Judge' — How to Respond When Your Relativistic Friend Quotes Jesus."
Matt Nelson gives us "Four Questions About the Bible You Should Ask Your Protestant Friends." This passage particularly struck me: "Scripture is fully equipped in the sense that it is a closed canon and thus cannot be changed or added to. But it is incomplete in the sense that it does not interpret itself." Enter the Catholic Church.
A new book by Fr. James Martin has received a lot of press of late for his attempt to build a bridge between the Church and the LGBT community. Edward Peters explains Fr. Martin's error: "If, say, a woman who experiences same-sex attraction marries a man, their wedding enjoys the same presumption of validity that every other marriage enjoys — unless and until it is proven null for reasons other than a non-existent impediment to marriage allegedly known as 'lesbianism'. Because no such impediment exists. See "That's not right. That's not even wrong."
Fr. George Rutler pens our final piece about "The current mania for tearing down statues and stifling free speech by cultural ingénues ignorant of history and logic, which has reached a stellar absurdity in demands to censure 'The Star Spangled Banner.'" It seems that those who don't know history are doomed to destroy it.
God bless you all this week! - Meaghen Hale |
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"The woman's soul is fashioned as a shelter in which other souls may unfold." - St. Edith Stein
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New Resources
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Such Faith - Pope Benedict XVI - The Yes of Jesus Christ: Exercises in Faith, Hope, and Love
The act of faith, we said, is a sharing in the vision of Jesus, propping oneself up on Jesus: John, who leant on Jesus' bosom, is a symbol for what faith means.
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Speaking the Painful Truth - Anthony Esolen - Magnificat
Sigrid Undset, for my money, is the greatest woman novelist who ever lived.
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Witness to Truth at 75 - Robert Royal - The Catholic Thing
There's another side of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) that deserves to be remembered.
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That's not right. That's not even wrong. - Edward N. Peters - In the Light of the Law
According to Fr. James Martin, although the Church teaches that "LGBT people must be celibate their entire lives" this expectation "has not been received", by lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and/or transgender people, and therefore it has failed to become "authoritative" in their regard.
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The Standard of the Cross - Father George W. Rutler - From the Pastor
If revisionists would burlesque the past and mute the voice of reason, they should first recognize that the value of life is secured best by the standard of the Cross and not the Crescent.
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25th Sunday in OT - Father John Horgan - CERC
The last will be first, and the first last.
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Editorials of Interest:
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Editorials of Interest
The Splendor of Truth in 2017 - First Things
The truth may not make us comfortable, but it does make us free. And knowing and living the truth ennoble our lives. It is the only path to lasting happiness.
Gender Ideology as Abuse - The Catholic Thing
Abuse is not just an occasional, incidental byproduct of the larger revolution, in which gender fluidity is but the latest salvo. It is the heart of the matter.
Demand Moral Beauty: It Is Our Birthright - Crisis Magazine
Beauty is the call of the Spirit, the invitation to cultivate virtue and to participate with the creativity of life itself that creates ever greater beauty.
Holy Routine - First Things
The fact is that human culture consists in the production of unnecessary things; but at the same time we could say that these unnecessary things are most necessary to express human dignity.
Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman and St. Justin Martyr, pray for us |
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