One of the benefits I believe that comes with age and the general disintegration of the body is that, like it or not, life teaches us to slow down from time to time. I like to joke with people that…
Preparedness is the native stance of any organization which knows its ultimate purpose. Many famous persons and institutions are well known and regarded for their ability to tackle various challenges, in accord with rigorous training and discipline. To be truly…
One of the objectives of the Second Vatican Council was to enrich the spiritual lives of the faithful by deeper intimacy with Sacred Scripture. This had been a long time goal of the Roman Pontiffs before this time. In some…
At this summer’s greatly anticipated meeting of the USCCB, the topic of “Eucharistic Coherence” gained center stage. In reading the National Catholic Register’s reporting of the meeting, I was struck by a comment that Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego…
Institutions form the backbone of any stable and long lasting civilization. In law, education, religion, science, government and more, institutions are the product of the accumulated experience and practice of millions of human beings. They are the sentinels of law…
Almost a year ago, just prior to the lockdowns which were imposed upon much of the United States, a pathogen of largely unknown virulence arrived on these shores. In those days, faced with so many questions regarding the lethality and…
Recently, people have been passing around a piece on Pillar Catholic, Who is responsible for these controversial Twitter Priests? It is an interesting article, although not for the reasons explicitly set forth in the article itself. Let’s start with the…
A Happy Year of Grace 2021 to all readers and friends of the blog Scutum et Lorica! I am very blessed to be here. One of the top pieces of advice given to bloggers when they begin their output, which…
This essay is one I have wanted to write for a long time, and one I have been thinking about for many months, if not years. One of the silver linings of COVID has been increased attention to the mental…
Henri Nouwen’s poetic image of the “wounded healer” has been falling out of fashion in recent times, especially as both Church and State desperately try to forget the real persons who, though flawed, were the boast of their particular eras.…