The Easter Vigil: Christ Be Our Light
The rubrics of the Missale Romanum remind us that this “mother of all vigils” is the “greatest and most noble of all solemnities and it is to be unique in every single Church” ( Missale Romanum,...
View ArticleOur Priest Tells it Like it Is
In these strange times, we need the teachings of the Church to help us navigate, priests who show how our faith can sustain in us in a disordered world. Our parish is fortunate in having such a...
View ArticleGod, not Man, Makes Climate
“When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind...
View ArticleAn Old Catholic | Jewish Physicist vs ChatGPT
At 93.4 (at the time of this writing), I find my creative juices are drying up. So, I’ve decided to rest on whatever laurels old writings might have earned, and use these posts in a competition with...
View ArticleA Feral Cat Parable
“No good deed goes unpunished.”Brendan Gill, The Trouble of One House (and earlier) As that sage Oscar Wilde would have it, sometimes “Life imitates art.” Which is to say that the quote above, taken...
View Article“Science at the Doorstep to God:”Fr. Spitzer’s Masterpiece on Contemporary...
INTRODUCTION In olden times, apologetics (reasoned arguments in defense of religious doctrine) relied on philosophy and theology. Nowadays, one has to defend the Church against scientism, the...
View ArticleOn Loving Our Enemies, Redux*
“ Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray...
View ArticleMemento Mori, Redux: Is There a Rainbow Bridge?*
“One day we will again see our animals in the eternity of Christ.” attributed to Pope Paul VI, consoling a boy who had lost his dog (1978) God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in...
View ArticleThe 12 Days of Christmas; It Isn’t Over ’till Epiphany
One of the Jacquie larson Christmas ecards I sent out was entitled “The 12 Days of Christmas.” I was reminded that Christmas, like Easter, is a liturgical season unto itself. Each Day the Liturgy of...
View ArticleTo Vax or not to Vax: Pascal’s Wager Revisited
INTRODUCTION I want to emphasize that I will not give advice in this piece on whether to vaccinate or not. Each person’s situation is different, so no general advice is in order. Rather, I want to set...
View ArticleTo Vax or not to Vax 2: A Decision Analysis Approach
INTRODUCTION In a previous article I stressed the importance of weighing not only probabilities of adverse outcomes, but their consequences, “Payoffs,” in deciding whether or not to take a covid-19...
View ArticleThe Good, the Bad, the Ugly
My latest addiction is to the “Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain.” After watching en emailed video of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” I was hooked. The video above is a later version. There’s also...
View ArticleMy Get-up-and-go has gone up and went!
At 91.9, I decided to make this my theme song…Enjoy! PS..I know, he’s a leftist, but he’s a great folk song singer.. let’s not do the cancel thing.
View ArticleLove Our Enemies? It’s Hard!
“ Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray...
View ArticleThe Easter Vigil Story:First Reading, the Creation*
INTRODUCTION Before the Covid lockdowns, I had the privilege of being a lector for the Easter Vigil Mass at our local nursing home. The nun who made the arrangements set my readings as the first, the...
View ArticleYou Lie! Said the Geocentrist to the Catholic Scientist*
Featured Image: “Galileo’s Trial” from Wikimedia Common “People give ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the moon....
View ArticleThe Lord’s Prayer and 12 Step Spirituality
“Of course there will always be those who seem to be offended by the introduction of any prayer whatever into an ordinary A.A. gathering. Also, it is sometimes complained that the Lord’s Prayer is a...
View ArticleThe Heavens Declare God’s Glory:Exploring Creation with JWT*
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.There is no speech nor language, where their voice...
View ArticleSilence in the Face of Truth Is Equivalent to a Great Lie
Today (29 August, 2022) we mark the anniversary of the beheading of John the Baptist. Because he told the truth to Herod, he was imprisoned and then (you all know the story) his head was given to...
View ArticleA LESSON IN KINDNESS:“TICKET WITHOUT A SEAT”
This clip was sent to me by a friend, with the heading “this movie won an Oscar.” I don’t think it did (can find no record of it even being nominated), but it’s a fine lesson. As the Monte Python...
View ArticleWhy I Wrote a Science Primer, And What It’s All about
“It is also necessary—may God grant it!—that in providing others with books to read I myself should make progress, and that in trying to answer their questions I myself should find what I am seeking....
View ArticleOn Practicing the Art of Dying Well*
“For what folly can be imagined greater than to neglect that Art, on which depend our highest and eternal interests, whilst on the other hand we learn with great labour, and practice with no less...
View ArticleThe Cure for the Swamp: Decentralize!
My good lady made a great suggestion to cure the problems we have with our Federal Government Civil Service. Put appropriate agencies out into different parts of the country, so the our civil...
View ArticleCatholic Guidelines for Science, Part 1*: The Church Is Not a Judge of...
Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can...
View ArticleThe Sacraments and Virtual Reality
“We find ourselves in a historical moment of pervasive mediocrity. Fueled by basic human drives—flights from death and boredom—the new technologies, bright and all consuming, increasingly blur the...
View ArticleBreakthrough in Fusion Energy*
“When the moon was first visited in 1969, the astronauts brought back a treasure trove of unique minerals. Contained within specimens was an isotope called Helium-3, which turns out to be the perfect...
View ArticleChristmas, Chanukkah and Strange Physics; The Theology of Light
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. First Letter of John 1:5 (KJV) And they made new holy vessels, and...
View ArticleStrange Catholic Worlds of Speculative Fiction 1: “Our Lady of the Artilects”
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17 (KJV) INTRODUCTION This is the first article...
View ArticleStrange Catholic Worlds of Speculative Fiction, 2:“Dawn of All,”A Catholic...
“It was curious, too, he reflected, that those who insist most upon the claims of Divinity insist also upon the claims of humanity. It seemed suggestive that it was the Catholics who were most aware of...
View Article“Bye,Bye, Miss American Pie;” A Lament for the ’50s
“Did you write the book of love, And do you have faith in God above, If the Bible tells you so? Do you believe in rock n’roll, Can music save your mortal soul? Don McLean, American Pie As we grow...
View ArticleGiant Solar Flare… More to Come?
This Lent, I’m on an internet abstinence (i.e. partial fast). However my Good Lady pointed out an article on a giant solar flare that occurred recently. Had this not been on the opposite side of the...
View ArticleStep 3 of the 12 Steps: The Surrender to Jesus Prayer
“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” Step 3, from the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. LENT AND THE JESUS SURRENDER PRAYER This Lent I have...
View ArticleA Holy Saturday Theology: “Embrace the Darkness”
“Now what I want to suggest is on this whole topic of the human addiction, the addiction to control and our addiction to want to play God, that when the darkness comes into our lives, when things are...
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