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November 15, 2017

Note from the Managing Editor:

"The Church will become small" are now familiar words of Cardinal Ratzinger, with which we begin this week.  We reprint the quote with context, and what struck me was the parallel to the constant conversion necessary for personal faith, "self-denial which alone reveals to a man in how many ways he is enslaved by his own ego."  See "Dedication to the Church."

Then we reprint a beautiful section from Dietrich von Hildebrand on "Why the Light of Purity is Needed to See the Mystery of Sex."  "Nothing reveals more plainly the presence of a mystery than this need of a special sanction from God to enter the sexual domain."  The pure man, because he waits for that special sanction in marriage, treats sex with the respect and awe it demands both before — and after — the sacrament.

Aside from that, we have several pieces on the errors of Communism, ideas which are still very much with us — and gaining traction.  All of them are worth a read; I especially enjoyed Theodore Dalrymple's "The Way of Che."  Che is a popular figure, but charism does not equal right.  "The triumph of marketing over truth and reality is nothing new" and we must beware.

Finally, in this month of November, it is good to remember the dead.  In "The Vanishing Body and the Disappearing Cemetery," John M. Grondelski explains why we should still visit cemeteries, despite the shortening of grieving rituals and the prevalence of cremation.  In a nutshell: for the benefit of those who have died — and for ours.  - Meaghen Hale



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"The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man. - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn



New Resources


 
Dedication to the Church - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - from Faith and the Future

The future of the Church can and will issue from those whose roots are deep and who live from the pure fullness of their faith.


 
Solzhenitsyn's cathedrals - Gary Saul Morson - The New Criterion

On the literary works of Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.


 
Why the Light of Purity is Needed to See the Mystery of Sex - Dietrich von Hildebrand - National Catholic Register

Simplicity, sincerity and humility — and especially reverence — are essential to true purity.


 
What we learned from the Russian Revolution - Father Raymond J. de Souza - National Post

That day in November 1917 when Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks seized power in Russia may have been the darkest day in the history of humanity.


 
Murderers' Row, Soviet-style - George Weigel - The Catholic Difference

One hundred years ago, on November 7, 1917, Lenin and his Bolshevik Party expropriated the chaotic Russian people's revolution that had begun eight months earlier, setting in motion modernity's first experiment in totalitarianism.


 
The Way of Che - Theodore Dalrymple - Taki's Magazine

The Irish Post Office has issued a stamp to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Ernesto Guevara.


 
The Vanishing Body and the Disappearing Cemetery - John M. Grondelski - Crisis Magazine

The cemetery is the resting place, ahead of the Resurrection of the Dead, of the body.


 
Fantasizing about Illusions - Father George W. Rutler - From the Pastor

Annals new and old are filled with quotations that most people can recognize.


 
32nd Sunday in OT - Father John Horgan - CERC

The parable of the five foolish virgins.

Editorials of Interest:

Prayer Isn't a Distraction - National Review
Opting Out - ISI

Editorials of Interest


Pope Francis: Homily at Mass in Commemoration of Deceased Cardinals and Bishops - Vatican

Awakening from death is not in itself a return to life: some will awake for eternal life, others for everlasting shame.


Pope at Mass: "Christian craftiness" prevents one from falling into the ring of corruption - Radio Vaticana

Speaking about the "smog of corruption" that pollutes society, the Holy Father also urged for prayers for the corrupt so that they "find a way out of the prison in which they wanted to enter."


The Principled Ambivalence of Pope Francis - First Things

These four principles dear to the papal heart are: "Time is greater than space"; "unity prevails over conflict"; "realities are more important than ideas"; and "the whole is greater than the part."


Culture of Rebuke Has Taken Hold in Church Discourse - NC Register

The dialogue that Pope Francis often calls for is not actually taking place within the Church.


Prayer Isn't a Distraction - National Review

The anti-prayer tweets aren't encouraging a debate about gun control; they are discouraging expressions of shock, sympathy, and mourning.


Sebastian Kurz — Europe's Christian Chancellor - Catholic Herald

Austria's next Chancellor is the commentariat's new bete noire. But plenty of Christians are pleased by the 31-year-old's ascent.


Why I Pray, Even After the Texas Shooting - Daily Wire

I don't pray with an expectation that this prayer will finally break the cycle of evil and suffering, that never again will I or someone I love be devastated by suffering. Instead, I try to trust.


Opting Out - ISI

I do not dispute Dreher's claim that Christians need to wake up and recover more intentional patterns of discipleship. But it has ever been so.


Catholicism: "Here comes everybody," even the annoying ones - Aleteia

"See how those Christians love each other, even that jerk" can be a greater witness than the actions usually called "evangelization."


Catholics and 'Zulus' in short supply as Lewes does Bonfire night - The Guardian

Most of us may think Britain's legacy of Christian religious violence belongs in history textbooks, but in Lewes the bitter memories are alive and well.


New research shows sexual difference runs deep - Mercatornet

A recent paper claims that beyond genes on the X and Y chromosomes, a full third of our genome behaves very differently in men and women.


Adoption tax credit is critical — don't cut it, says law's original author - Catholic World Report

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) in introduced a $5000 refundable adoption credit to Congress in 1990. The legislation was reintroduced in the following years, and eventually become law, with bipartisan support, in 1996.


Statistics We Refuse to Collect - Crisis Magazine

My first encounter with the deliberate fuzzing of numbers in order to tell political lies was when I read James Burtchaell's book, Rachel Weeping: The Case Against Abortion.


Can Hollywood Turn Sex Assault Scandals Into Meaningful Reform? Judd Apatow On How To End Abuse Cycle - Deadline

I think that we clearly need to get a lot of the leaders in our industry together to discuss what can be done. It seems essential that we create ways for people to come forward.


Emotions: The Devil's Playground - Mind & Spirit

If you're a typical person of average mental health, emotions don't just fall from the sky and land on you, rather they are always the result of a thought. Enter the Devil.


NASA's $1 billion Jupiter probe just sent back stunning new photos - Sci-Tech Universe

Many snapshots of Jupiter take on an artistic quality. Some of the tempests are large enough to swallow planet Earth — or at least a good chunk of it.


The Film I'll Push You is an Extraordinary Story of Love - NC Register

A Camino journey of 500 miles, two best friends, and one wheelchair.


What Flannery O'Connor's College Journal Reveals - The Atlantic

The brief diary shows an aspiring writer struggling to overcome doubt and anxiety.


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

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