Catholic Thing
| Website Title | Resource Summary | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Catholic Thing |
The Catholic thing – the concrete historical reality of Catholicism – is the richest cultural tradition in the world. It was born from Judaism and, through that spiritual parentage, even reaches back into the great ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. In its early days, it confronted, absorbed, and redirected what was then the most sophisticated society in existence, Greco-Roman culture. When that culture fell, Catholicism preserved what it could and rebuilt the rest over centuries, incorporating new influences from Northern Europe and, during the great age of exploration, from the entire globe. Today, it numbers over a billion souls on every continent. Despite its all-too-human imperfections, there is simply nothing like it. |
Catholic, Online Magazine, Catholic Thing | ||
| Church, Clericalism, Corruption |
We are not talking about accusing people in the sense of judging them as saved or damned, but identifying malefactors and their enablers so that they don’t continue perpetrating evil. And so that victims, who will be the first accusers, find mercy – and justice – in truth. |
Catholic Thing, Catholic Homosexual | ||
Dare to be Irrelevant |
Indeed, to a large extent, priests and bishops ceased to be relevant shepherds and became sheep of the culture, wholly-owned subsidiaries of liberal fashions. Over the past fifty years “The Role of the Church in the Modern World” became “The Role of the Modern World in the Church.” Fifty years of “Please, like me!” tactics haven’t worked. Despite our best efforts, we have become irrelevant. Let’s try something new – and old. Let’s try the truth of the Gospel: • Men, be faithful to your wives in marriage. Be kind and considerate. If you are involved with porn, give it up. Just do it. • Ladies, this is from the Book of Proverbs: “It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop than with a quarrelsome wife and an unruly household.” (Prov. 25:24) • Fathers, your kids don’t need you as a friend. They need you as a father. Expect their respect. Discipline them in charity and justice.... |
Pokorsky, Catholic Thing, Traditional Catholicism | ||
| Restoring Confidence in the Catholic Faith |
If priests cannot be chaste in celibacy, how can we expect our young men to grow in chastity as they prepare for marriage? For example, when priests live their celibacy with confidence, they provide an example to young men who are required to be chaste in their own celibate state before they marry. Clerical violations of celibacy not only encourage secular commentators like Rush Limbaugh to question its value for priests, they undermine the resolve of men struggling to overcome addictions to pornography. In my parish, I have been methodical in my strategy in dealing with the doctrinal ambiguities of the Vatican. The pope’s picture hangs in the church vestibule to remind the faithful to pray for him. But it is safer as a matter of clarity never to quote the Holy Father. |
Catholic Homosexual, Catholic Thing, Pokorsky | ||
The New Babel and the New Pentecost |
The building of the first Babel was an act of pride. (cf. Gen 11) Like Adam and Eve, the builders didn’t want to receive from God; they wanted to obtain things on their own. They sought to construct a tower “with its top in the heavens” and to make a name for themselves, lest they be “scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” They desired to raise themselves to God’s level – to be self-sufficient – and to establish unity on their own terms. To frustrate their aims and punish their pride, God confused their language and scattered them. The lesson of Babel is clear: it is human pride that has produced confusion and division in the world. We are witnessing the construction of a new Babel. Ours is a post-Christian society, an anti-culture that has rejected the Word of God. In our pride, we want on our own terms and by our own accomplishments what creatures can only receive from God. We have thrown off His reality – about gender, sex, life, etc. – and tried to... |
scalia, gender, Catholic, Catholic Thing | ||
| Time to Preach to the Non-Converted on Abortion |
In recent decades, this has become even more pronounced. The number of pro-life Democrats in Congress, for example, is in the single digits today, compared to more than 100 in the 1970s. The pro-life movement may not have the political clout or generous financing of Planned Parenthood or George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. But we have a much more powerful weapon: the truth. Intellectually honest people, who adhere to Socrates’ advice to follow the evidence wherever it leads, will be compelled by the irresistible logic that the unborn child is human and thus deserves legal protection, regardless of which side of the political aisle they are on, or what God or gods, if any, they believe in.... |
Abortion, Catholic Thing, Party Platform |
