From my Month of Sundays devotional booklet: …as is taught in the glorious Good News of the ever-blessed God, with which I was entrusted. — 1 Timothy 1:11 Blessed…we hear that expression so many times. We tell people to “Be blessed…” and hopefully people tell us that too. (The Wiccans turn that around and greet …
Why I Never Joined a Catholic Charismatic Covenant Community
One of the more rewarding parts of internet life I’ve been involved in is music blogging. Although sites such as The Ancient Star Song are by far more active in the field, I’ve done a few albums here. In the process I’ve had the honour to establish (or re-establish) contact with the artists of the …
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Book Review: Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso)
One of the points that the late scholar Allan Bloom used to make is that Americans are no longer impacted by great books. Music, other cultural influences, yes, but books? I would have to confess that, much of the time, that was the case for me, too. But in the spring of my junior year …
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The "More Catholic Than the Pope" People Head to Rome
Westminster Cathedral sees a mass defection from the Church of England: Up to 50 Anglican clergy, some of whom oppose women bishops, could convert to Catholicism by Easter under a new scheme approved by the Pope. The first of the converts, including three former Anglican bishops, two of their wives, and three former Anglican nuns, …
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Gloria in excelsis Deo. Now Let's Get That Pronunciation Right!
Christmas is a time when many "traditions" (that word has worn with use in our culture) get hauled out and paraded. Some, like standing out in the elements on Black Friday morning waiting for the store to open at 0500 (or earlier) could be dispensed with, especially with the internet, where we could do Black …
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Is Sarah Palin Wrong About Jack Kennedy?
Kennedy's niece certainly thinks so: Palin fails to understand the genius of our nation. The United States is one of the most vibrant religious countries on Earth precisely because of its religious freedom. When power and faith are entwined, faith loses. Power tends to obfuscate, corrupt and focus on temporal rather than eternal purposes. Somehow …
The Love of Our God
Hitchens vs. Blair: The Result Depends Upon the Premises
It's not surprising that the Guardian has trumpeted the result of the Munk Debate in Toronto as Hitchens 1 Blair 0. (For a more reasonable take on the debate, one should turn to His Grace.) The results of the polls aren't surprising either; Hitchens went into the debate with a lead amongst those polled, and …
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Abu Daoud Writes the Pope
And let's hope His Holiness gets around to reading it: The first reform I suggest is regarding Holy Scripture. One of the most recurrent themes in conversion narratives of Muslims is the reading of the Bible. Yet how many hundreds of thousands of emigrants live throughout the West without access to the bible in their …
Blessing the Animals, and Must the Rector Search Committee Have Its Own Chaplain?
I still don't get this: Two congregations will celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi with a blessing of the animals. The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea invites pets and their owners to the celebration Oct. 3. The procession into the church will begin at 8:45 a.m., with the service starting at 9 a.m. Coffee …
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Positive Infinity 