Blogposts

End of Life Decisions

01-29-2023Weekly Reflection

The death of Terri Schiavo years ago raised a number of issues, moral, legal and constitutional, about the right to life and the so-called right to die. Most coverage of the case focused on the question of her guardian's right to decide according to her alleged wishes and the due process of the judicial proceedings. However, at base, the question was a moral, not a legal, one: under what conditions, if any, may a patient, a guardian, medical personnel or civil authorities, withhold or withdraw nutrition and hydration.

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From Islam to Christ: the conversion of Mehdi Djaadi: Enraptured by the Eucharist

01-22-2023Weekly Reflection

A French-Algerian actor recounts his conversion from Islam to Catholicism via Protestantism. Born in a difficult neighborhood, rescued from the theater by delinquency, in his show “Coming out” he bears witness to his spiritual journey and his journey towards true freedom. The one staged by Mehdi Djaadi, a French-Algerian actor in the theater, is decidedly out of the ordinary. No, it's not what you think. The one represented by Mehdi in his monologue entitled "Coming out" is not the story of an exit from some dark closet: it is the story of a conversion, of a gaze that gradually opens up to the true light, the one that illuminates every man.

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About Mary You Can Never Say Enough (De Maria Numquam Satis)

01-15-2023Weekly Reflection

Pope Benedict, before he was Pope, as Cardinal Ratzinger, expressed himself on the title of this essay in a book called The Ratzinger Report. He said: It seemed exaggerated to me. So it was difficult for me to understand the true meaning of another famous expression…the declaration that designated the Virgin Mary as the “conqueror of all heresies.” Now in this confused period where truly every type of heretical aberration seems to be pressing upon the doors of the authentic faith-now I understand that it was not a matter of pious exaggerations, but of truths that today are more valid than ever.

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My Son/Daughter Went to College and Abandoned the Faith And the Sexual Revolution

01-08-2023Weekly Reflection

A young woman, Megan Besham, wrote in the December 2022 issue of the magazine, First Things: “Like many a wayward daughter of middle-class America, when I was in college I took up academic culture’s invitation to throw off the moral restraints of my Christian upbringing. I experimented with all manner of substances and licentiousness—even with feminist theory, which almost proved intellectually fatal. “This was the second of two essays about college and the Faith. The first essay was by a different young woman, Veronica Clarke, who chose her college because it was “unapologetically Catholic.

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The New Totalitarianism

01-01-2023Weekly Reflection

There was a news item about the University of Minnesota Medical School promoting (imposing) a “woke” political agenda on faculty and applicants.  You would think that the goal of a medical school is to form competent doctors in the healing arts.  It’s not just at this medical school.  Some of the nation’s best medical schools are weeding out applicants who are insufficiently devoted to DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) efforts. A review of the admissions process at 50 of the top-ranked medical schools found that 36 asked applicants their views on, or experience in, DEI efforts.  Many were overt in asking applicants if they agreed with certain statements about racial politics and the causes of disparate health outcomes.

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Worshipping the Earth, the New Paganism, Sexual Disorder

12-25-2022Weekly Reflection

A headline ran: “Neither Mother nor Goddess. Even Gregorian Chant Is Against the New Idolatry of the Earth.” Fulvio Rampi writes: One of the threads that can be discerned is the theme of the earth, meaning the regard in which Gregorian chant holds the “ecological question,” so to speak. The theme of the earth is dear to Sacred Scripture, which from the book of Genesis teaches us that man and the earth are placed by God in a close relationship with Him and with each other.

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Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the Planned Parenthood Mentality

12-18-2022Weekly Reflection

Much ink has been spilled about Ruth Bader Ginsberg as a model and heroine, especially for women, if not a “secular saint.”  She was a fervent supporter of Planned Parenthood (originally called The Birth-Control League) and abortion despite Planned Parenthood’s racist past.  An element of that racist past is exemplified in a quote the media does not usually refer to. With respect to abortion, she was asked in a NY Times interview about various aspects of abortion law (July 7, 2009):

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Each Confession benefits the whole Church: the Communion of Saints and the Sacrament of Penance.

12-11-2022Weekly Reflection

In the Sacrament of Penance man is reconciled with God and with the Church. It is one of the most intimate and personal of human acts, and brings about many fundamental changes in the sanctuary of each man’s conscience. Yet at the same time this Sacrament also possesses a deep and inseparable social dimension and also brings about many changes in the family circle, the studies, the work, the friendly relationships etc., of the person who goes to Confession. The greatest tragedy in any man’s life is sin, because the result of sin is a far reaching disorder which starts in the very centre of his being and spreads outward to affect all those around him.

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Agnostic Scientist Converted After Witnessing a Miracle

12-04-2022Weekly Reflection

Alexis Carrel was born into a Catholic family in a small town in France in 1873. He attended Mass regularly and went to Catholic schools run by Jesuits. Unfortunately, by the time he went to college he was an agnostic. He completely rejected the Catholic faith and wasn’t even sure if there was a God. However, he wouldn’t stay that way. And an extraordinary miracle from Lourdes helped lead him back.

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The So-Called Respect for Marriage Act

11-27-2022Weekly Reflection

There is a bill floating in Congress with this title, which frankly is dishonest. This bill is NOT about respect for marriage. Quite the contrary. With the return of the issue of abortion to the states, there was worry by some that the same fate would befall so-called “homosexual marriage” by overturning the Obergefell vs Hodges decision of the Supreme Court, which ruled for same-sex marriage. Thus the issue would be returned to the individual states. Whether overturned or not, the Obergefell-decision is a nullity and any law codifying this decision would be a nullity because courts and legislatures have no power to change the nature of marriage.

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Solemnity of Christ the King

11-20-2022Weekly Reflection

O Teacher, Priest, and Lawgiver, You display this title on your garment marked with blood: Lord of lords, and most high King of kings.

O Christ peace-bringing Prince, subdue rebellious wills, by Your love gather into one fold those who have gone astray.

We confess, O Christ, that You are the King of the ages, You are the nations’ King, You are the sole ruler of minds and hearts.

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Blaise Pascal: The Grandeur and Misery of Man

11-13-2022Weekly ReflectionPeter Kwasniewski

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), in addition to being among the widely acknowledged geniuses of the human race, was one of the most eminent modern apologists for the Christian faith. In an era such as ours that denigrates both rationality, man’s distinctive trait, and belief in God, man’s highest dignity in this life, we have much to learn from him.

Despite his poor health, Pascal was a prodigy in mathematics and science from his earliest youth. He performed groundbreaking experiments with water and air pressure, invented a calculating machine, and made striking advances in theoretical mathematics, especially probability theory.

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What are the Origins of All Saints Day and All Souls Day?

11-06-2022Weekly Reflection

After the legalization of Christianity in A.D. 313, a common commemoration of the saints, especially the martyrs, appeared in various areas throughout the Church. For instance, in the East, the city of Edessa celebrated this feast on May 13; the Syrians, on the Friday after Easter; and the city of Antioch, on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Both St. Ephrem (d. 373) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) attest to this feast day in their preaching. In the West, a commemoration for all the saints also was celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The primary reason for establishing a common feast day was the desire to honor the great number of martyrs, especially during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian (284-305), the worst and most extensive of the persecutions. Quite simply, there were not enough days of the year for a feast day for each martyr, and many of them died in groups. A common feast day for all saints, therefore, seemed most appropriate.

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