From St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 3, q. 26 a. 1: Properly speaking, the office of a mediator is to join together and unite those between whom he mediates: for extremes are united in the mean [medio]. Now to unite men to God perfectively belongs to Christ, through Whom men are reconciled to God, according …
Chesterton on the Carthaginian Sacrifice of Children
The confirmation (against a lot of pushback) that the Carthaginians really, truly did sacrifice their children bring to mind this memorable passage from G.K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man: There was established on the opposite coast of the inland sea a city that bore the name of the New Town. It was already much older, more …
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Tony Blair's Non-Mea Culpa on Iraq
He confidently states that "extremist religions" are at the bottom of conflict these days: Referring to wars and violent confrontations from Syria to Nigeria and the Philippines, Blair, writing in the Observer, argues that "there is one thing self-evidently in common: the acts of terrorism are perpetrated by people motivated by an abuse of religion. …
My Favourite Preacher: Jaques-Benigne Bossuet
Two summers ago I posted a piece on my favourite pastor, my first parish priest. Protestants in general and Pentecostals in particular like their pastor to be a great pulpiteer to boot. With the advent of Christian (well, part of the time) television, people have an opportunity to follow preachers other than their own pastor …
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Taking the Middle Ground on the Union of God and Man
From St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, 3 q. 2 a. 6: ...we must know that two heresies have arisen with regard to the mystery of the union of the two natures in Christ. The first confused the natures, as Eutyches and Dioscorus, who held that from the two natures one nature resulted, so that they …
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Sonday
AMC KS-7634 6052N8 (1976) A collection of classic Catholic folk pieces, most of which were written (and performed) by the Dominican James Marichonda, who is a well-known composer and performer of liturgical music. The album itself is a little uneven; there are some songs which are very good and some which are more ordinary. Nevertheless …
Is Bridge Building Really a Ministry?
About a year ago I did a piece on the French scientist and engineer Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant, whose combination of scientific prowess and Christian conviction made for an interesting career in Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary France. When he died in 1886, Karl Pearson, as well-known an enemy of Christianity as, say, Richard Dawkins …
The Twilight of the Box Checkers
Timothy Fountain, with some help from Rod Dreher, lays it out: There are going to be Christians and non-Christians in America. Nominal Christianity has no future now that various cultural props are gone. Christians will have to be disciples of Jesus, not members of clubs based on old ethnic, neighborhood and family functions. Which means …
Song of the Lamb: Through the Narrow Gate
Label Unknown 1979 Catholic albums of the 1970's came from a number of different sources: parish groups, seminary groups, the "Nun-Plus" albums, college based groups, and of course the covenant communities. This one comes from the last, but it's a departure from just about anything I've heard from a covenant community group. On the album …
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So Who Are My Mother and My Brothers?
This is the time of year when we think about what Roman Catholics refer to as the "Holy Family." The exact composition of that family is a matter of some dispute, as we will see, but at this time of the year we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary. Now Mary and Joseph …
Positive Infinity 