Purify Your Bride

One of the things that strikes me about this whole Chis West controversy is how easily Catholics are offended by good preaching. I think West is a cradle Catholic so he isn’t bringing an evangelical preaching style to the church directly. Still this kind of challenging, push you out of you comfort zone, type of [...]

Now we have Obama’s Supreme court nominee. It seems like Souter was holding out for Bush to leave office so his replacement could be chosen by a Democrat. A Republican appointee continuing to oppose the Republican agenda right until the end. It is instructive. People in the pro-life movement seem to think we would have [...]

Finally somebody steps up and defends Chis West. She had a piece on Catholic Exchange today. It just seem like he has gotten so much friendly fire lately that he must be getting discouraged. I have defended him a bit but my words don’t carry much weight. Janet Smith is a legit heavyweight.
Chris West [...]

In the ongoing straining for gnats in Christopher West’s teachings we have had some questions about a statement he is supposed to have made. He encouraged people to spend time standing naked in front of a mirror to get over their shame about their body. It did remind me of a season in my life [...]

This line struck me from today’s reading in John 16:31. The disciples say they believe and Jesus says they really don’t. He points out that they will run away when the soldiers come for Him as Gethsemane. Faith is a funny thing. We can think we have it but we don’t. It reminded me of [...]

Suppose you had a rich father. You know you are in your father’s will and are going to get a large inheritance. You father has the power to change his will. He could remove your inheritance. Should you worry about that? If you have a good relationship with your father you are not likely to [...]

Why do we celebrate the ascension? I mean isn’t it about Jesus leaving us. Jesus is alive. So why is he going anywhere? To prepare a place for us? How does that make sense? He is God. How come he can’t just prepare a place instantly? Well, when God goes slow it is not because [...]

There is a lot of talk about one issue Catholics. In the context of the Obama and Notre Dame debate they mean that abortion is the single issue. Now in the context of politics I understand it. I personally find it common to agree with a politician on every major issue except abortion. Now the [...]

There is a lot of debate about what is the “real” Catholic church. Lots of Notre Dame apologists seem to have a very different definition of what is Catholic. Not so much what the teachings are but rather what should be emphasized and who the leaders should be. Of course, questions of emphasis and [...]

It seems like there has been a bit of a shift in the polling data on abortion. A post at 538 goes through some numbers. Most of what he says is beside the point. Sure there is a lot more data behind the numbers and exact questions matter a lot. But comparing apples to apples, [...]

Dawn Eden has a priest guest post and take some shots at Chris West. His principle objection seems to be the idea that Theology of the Body is a radical departure from what the church taught before. It is and it isn’t. Many Catholics have taken a “spirit good, body bad” idea from their spiritual [...]

There has been a big controversy at Notre Dame. Most of what needs to be said has been said. I do think the issue is large than abortion and larger than Notre Dame. The true scandal is what has happened to Catholic education in the last 50 years. The fact is Notre Dame is not [...]

He recently appeared on ABC’s Nightline. He was on for 7 minutes and he apparently said something about Hugh Hefner that confused some people. His position is clear and if you let him have a few minutes to talk he can make it clear. But ABC is more interested in raising eyebrows than in clarifying [...]

Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.

This is from Unam Snactum. My last post on the subject triggered a long discussion on Easter Orthodoxy with Chris. It has been back in my thoughts. Not because I lay awake [...]

Think about how strange it is that we seem to know certain moral principles that we have a hard time following and even some that nobody is able to follow completely. Yet we still see them as true. I looked at the immorality of racism because secular people take it as bedrock truth and because [...]