Safe Haven

I don't care what shape Reese's Peanut Butter Cups come in. I don't care about Starbucks. The biggest War On Christmas is in our souls, yours and mine. Which is not to say that rampant secularism is good. It is to say, rather, that the front lines are closer than we think. Ghandi and President Obama are right about one thing: be the change you want to see in the world. We Christians know you can't just do that; you need help. Lord, help us to be your peace in the world. Amen. Pretty sure I don't even know how the Spurs did last night. I'm absolutely certain that I won't also say, "Man, I didn't play enough video games while I was here!" Will I die if I fail to get current on Grey's Anatomy? Tell me seriously if you actually think St. Peter will check your Netflix queue. Which is not to say, "Let's all live in a cave, and forsake the world!" No. It means that as I watch Timmy dunk a basketball, or I behold the beauty of a...

For what am I most thankful? I am completely surrounded by people who love more than they expect to be loved. It truly puts me to shame. Communion with God is always before me as the highest goal, and all I need to do is decide whether to go along. And that this quest for holiness takes place in relative ease is no small gift. I will spare you the schoolmarmish tributes to soldiers who can't go home, but suffice to say, I have no excuse for failing to praise God. Not that anyone does. I guess today is like every day: learn what matters, and how not to waste your life. I'll keep trying.

Have you ever been watching a show, or heard a song where someone said, "God Bless America" or something similar? It should make the pious heart uncomfortable, but not because there is anything wrong with a certain patriotism. Instead, we are made uncomfortable because we know that God is bigger than whatever we imagine to be truly majestic, noble, or otherwise worth preserving. God is Being as such. If you perfectly understand that which you worship, it is not God you worship. If God perfectly agrees with you on every matter, you're not talking with God. I get the sense from some people that God is more like a powerful, benevolent pet dog, instead of the Almighty. As for us, we don't make sense to ourselves. You might be hung up some way, and lamenting that you'll never get out of some situation, or stop doing x,  but it's not really about that thing, is it? We need to open up to God, tell him what we fear, because that's what's really holding us ...

I see it all the time: "Now that's the gospel!" Or the reverse. It seems like people know what they are talking about, but I noticed earlier in my Christian life that "the gospel" happened to correspond to whatever moral sense of self a person wanted to project. We should say that the gospel is that which pertains to the revelation of Jesus Christ. That seems reasonable. It however becomes important for us to know the difference between revelation and human opinion, and to know the means by which we receive revelation. So long as Christians--Catholic and non-Catholic alike--disagree on the content of revelation, and on the means of receiving it, it is profitable and urgent to engage in ecumenical dialogue concerning those matters where we differ. Ecumenism is dialogue for the purpose of reaching agreement in matters of revealed truth, whether faith or morals. It is not merely a celebration of those areas where we already agree, nor is it the act of pretendin...

Under the heading, "Separated Or Divorced Persons Who Have Not Remarried," I give you Familiaris Consortio, 83 in its entirety: "Various reasons can unfortunately lead to the irreparable breakdown of valid marriages. These include mutual lack of understanding and the inability to enter into interpersonal relationships. Obviously, separation must be considered as a last resort, after all other reasonable attempts at reconciliation have proved vain. Loneliness and other difficulties are often the lot of separated spouses, especially when they are the innocent parties. The ecclesial community must support such people more than ever. It must give them much respect, solidarity, understanding and practical help, so that they can preserve their fidelity even in their difficult situation; and it must help them to cultivate the need to forgive which is inherent in Christian love, and to be ready perhaps to return to their former married life. The situation is similar for p...

There are hundreds of would-be claimants to the throne of Jesus Christ the King. Maybe even in our own hearts. I used to worry more than a Christian should. I would never appear to be a worrier; I'm much too practiced at piety for that. And I realized that the besetting sin of my life had (and has) its root in control. That is, pride. If we want to be saints, we must surrender. The Lamb will make us kings and queens to our God, if we will stop trying to do it ourselves. Think of all the kings of the earth, who have no use for Jesus, and the humble handmaiden who birthed Him. And people are looking around at these mighty men, crying, "Save us!" and they can't. Or they won't. Enter Jesus. More power than we possibly imagine, but he still has no beauty or majesty that we should regard him. But something underneath the anxiety, almost like a whisper, calls out to us. This is peace. We hear His voice, and follow, as we were destined to do. The world is full of no...

The Lord Jesus cleansed the Temple, and John quoted the prophet: "Zeal for your house will consume me." He cleanses us in the Eucharist every time we receive Him worthily. As I go along, I have become more thankful for this. We should be able to say with a moral certainty that we are free of mortal sin, and we have recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to recover the grace of our baptism, if not. Even so, we are constantly reliant on the cleansing blood of Jesus. I was attempting to recollect after Mass today, when I was informed that there was smoke in the Cathedral Basilica, and I needed to leave. It's a big place. I didn't see anything obviously wrong, so I kept going, and tried not to worry. I made a joke to myself: "Are we sure it's not the shekinah? [The glory of the Lord, which filled the Temple after Solomon dedicated it] A person in Christ who is keeping the covenant is like the Temple, when the Lord's glory filled it. I might not even ...

I don't remember much from the day they buried my father. I remember skipping the funeral Mass, but going to the burial. I was 9 years old. This is what I do remember: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." I know now that it is an expression of Christian hope that I did not yet possess. There is a difference, mind you, between hope, and presumption. Presumption is grounded in self-regard; hope is grounded in the promises of God. What a beginning! Let's above all give thanks that God's promises grow ever clearer, and that all else fades.

Here's a text from the book of Revelation, namely, chapter 8, verses 3 and 4: "And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God." I must admit, I haven't routinely thought of prayer as being this powerful. But what if it is? Suppose we are the agents of mercy before the final judgment. If you knew it only took one prayer between life or death, you'd offer it, wouldn't you? When that seventh seal is broken, Heaven will fall silent for half an hour. The place of eternal singing and joy. That is The Day The Music Died. I don't really know what judgment will be like, but I don't want to be on the wrong end of it. The Christian life isn't complicated; it's learning to praise God and give him thanks now, becaus...

I love the rain. Now that I'm Catholic, I can think of it as God's holy water. Isn't that the real meaning of the fact that he sends rain on the righteous and the wicked alike? Holy water is a sacramental, and sacramentals dispose us favorably to receive greater graces. It is for us to believe that God is mercy, and we will see greater things than these. Don't miss a chance to thank the Lord. There may be a greater thing after the rain.

The pope speaks rather forcefully in Laudato Si about our technocratic paradigm of economic and social organization. It doesn't take much awareness of the social doctrine to understand the numerous problems with that paradigm. When your favorite presidential candidate doubles down on the paradigm, it causes chagrin. Apparently, we need fewer philosophers, because they don't produce anything, says Marco Rubio. On the contrary; philosophers remind us of first principles, and to make arguments, instead of having them. Back to the point, you wish to lead a party whose greatest achievements led human beings out of soul-crushing slavery, but you seem to want to trade one slavery for another. It doesn't do any good   to rescue a man from the socialist state in order to sell him to the corporate one. The great genius of limited government is in allowing people to find the best solution to a problem themselves. The true conservative does not question the legitimacy of government...

Blogging from a phone. This is an exciting experience, one with which I am unfamiliar. I wonder how this is going to go, since it is hard to think and talk, while editing whatever mistakes this thing will make. Forgive me for any transcription errors, although I have now switched to composing by hand, because Siri turns off the Hall and Oates. Not cool, Siri. Not cool at all.

I do not sense that the way of the gospel is the better way, but I know it. I will never tell you that I enjoy this road more than the other. If I told you that the harder path is more pleasing, I'd be lying. The problem is that people have been told they will be happier if they take the harder road. It depends on what you mean. Ultimately happier? Of course. Happier the way people tend to think? No. We've all been doing an evangelistic bait-and-switch, and then we wonder why people think we are fake. The narrow way is brutal, long, steep, and lonely. But the only one who can fill that gnawing existential loneliness in our souls has also taken the narrow way. In fact, He is the Way. It has always seemed like something is wrong with the world. Something wrong with us. We can either pretend it isn't there, or take the red pill, as it were.

I don't know why the car honked; I had the right of way. The dude yelled at the driver, and asked me to have a drink. Sure, I said. If I'm being completely honest, I think I talked about myself too much. He didn't seem to mind. And I never met a Parisian with no trace of a French accent. I want to ask him about this. I had a good time. I also thought after some reflection that God had a purpose in this meeting, that I should pray for my new friends, this man and wife. Most people don't know what they want, and what they think they want is not what they really want. We have loads of crap underneath what we show to the world, or even what we show to ourselves. The other interesting thing is that people think religion involves the suppression of desires. On the contrary; true religion trades surface desires in for deeper and better ones. Let's not be afraid to dream, to tell God the deepest things in our hearts. If they are true, nothing will hold them back, in t...

A priest said to me and some assembled friends last night that St. Josemaria Escriva was tempted with the basest, most vile things as he advanced in the spiritual life. I'm in good company, I thought. I truly don't know what is around the corner, but I am fully aware of the difference between the suggestion of evil, and being conflicted in the will. That's not to say I can afford to be complacent, but it is to say that grace offers a clarity, a purity of desire, that the pursuit of virtue in the absence of grace cannot offer, however noble. I was reflecting after receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation last night. If the revelation of Jesus Christ represents reality, then most of the world and most of the people in it wander in darkness. I was sad at this, almost inconsolably, and then a great affection for the Holy Father took over my heart. Certainly, he loves the children of God, but he intensely loves the wandering, and the lost. If we pray for him, and we lift hi...

I've been reading The End Of The Present World, And The Mysteries Of The Future Life, by Fr. Arminjon. It's not for the faint of heart, or maybe it is, if you know what I mean. I suppose the theme of my life lately is that things which seem important aren't, and things which seem small are the most significant. I came back from Mass thinking, "I'm going to eat that Campbell's vegetable beef soup to the glory of God!" I had the same thought when I turned my key to unlock the door, and on and on. I suppose it could be a bit dramatic, but truly, when is the last time you ate a Skittle thinking of God's glory? What if that moment defines your destiny? I'm not surprised, anyway, that this is the book beloved by St. Therese, and that she was the one to remind us to do little things with great love. There isn't anything else. The way this world appears lies to us, saying, "Life will go on, much as it has. You have time. Even if you don't,...

We're all carrying the scars, the battle wounds from this life as a disciple of Jesus. Whether they are self-inflicted or not, they don't heal over in a day. Some, not even in a lifetime. Even if words of forgiveness have been spoken, even if we're actively seeking to be a blessing through prayer or otherwise, that which caused the pain can still come to our minds. I can taste the bitterness. I can imagine the opportunities to settle the score, to voice my hurt. And I know that is the old man that has been crucified with Christ trying to reassert himself. Yet you and I don't have to surrender. Just because I feel a certain way at a certain time does not mean that my firm resolution to love is false. It means that I must overcome my feelings to continue doing what grace has prompted me to do. One other thing: I think I better understand what it means to forgive in Christ. We can forgive unilaterally in a certain way, not allowing the sins of others to define our part...

No one plans to die when they die. A few lucky people end up suffering some kind of prolonged illness, and friends and family have the opportunity to keep vigil and wait. What would you do if these are the last moments of your life? Is your activity at this moment consonant with what you want your story to say? I have tended to think of sin as bumps in the road, mere blips on the radar of life, and perhaps in the grand scheme, against the backdrop of God's mercy, that's what they are. But never forget: Sin is choosing death instead of life. When death itself knocks at the door, do you want to be acting against yourself, and against the God who made you, and will raise you to life on the last day?

I saw a thing the other day that a Catholic political group "blasted" Paul Ryan for his alleged departures from Catholic social doctrine. And for all we know, he is out of harmony with the teaching. That's neither here nor there, at the moment. My concern is that discussion about anything is being replaced by the ostentatious display of moral disdain for people. This is not the same as an argument. An argument goes like this: A minimum wage insulates people from unforeseen difficulties, and rewards honest work, keeping people out of abject poverty. The current minimum wage in the US does not suffice to provide for basic needs, for individuals or families. Therefore, the minimum wage should be increased. That's an argument. It may be a good one or a bad one, but if you wish to dispute it, dispute the premises or the conclusion. We don't do that; we dispute each other. We sort of decide in our own tribes what Good People are supposed to believe, and then w...

I have returned! My one reader is surely thrilled. I'm sure you missed my penetrating insights into Hall & Oates, a band who hasn't released a studio album since at least we liked Dick Cheney. [Some people have never liked him.--ed.] But those are the people who dislike Top Gun and Applebee's, and they are not my kind of people. [Did you seriously combine those things?--ed.] Yes. Unabashedly. I guess we missed talking about a few things. The pope was here. That's seriously exciting stuff. I love that guy. Is it crass to say that? People I greatly respect think there are perfectly valid reasons to critique him that don't involve YOUAREACOMMUNISTSTOPTALKING, and I'm sure that's so. Like episcopal appointments. Whatever. Against the long view of history, criticizing episcopal appointments feels like being a huge fan of Family Feud, and nonetheless hating Richard Dawson's ties. No one will care. They will say you have an unhealthy fascination with triv...