George Orwell in his classic 1984 once famously said that the future of the human race under totalitarianism would be a “boot stomping on a human face, forever.” Although like most dystopian classics, Orwell saw with a certain amount of…
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…
St. Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, exhorts deacons not to be “double-tongued”, a wonderfully literal and rich translation of the word dialogos. Writing as he is in the context of the qualifications he expects in those in ministry,…
This week had me thinking of an anecdote from the life of St. Alphonsus Liguori, when he was riding to take possession of his bishopric, Sant’Agata de’ Goti. Faced with the immensity of the task (then, as now) of governing…
With November being right around the corner, many Dioceses and Parishes are turning their attention to the upcoming holidays. Coupled with what seems to be a resurgence in the Coronavirus in most of the world, I think it is quite…
September was a busy month, in terms of cultural and political news. We had the death of Ruth Bader-Ginsberg and then the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, which is all but assured to end with her…
There is an old saying which is as certain in its meaning as it is uncertain in its origins: “Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.” Destruction is preceded by delusion. This idea, which is rooted in…
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…
Since the Industrial Revolution, mankind has invented thousands, or perhaps even millions of labor-saving devices. We travel faster than ever before imagined over land, sea and air. Most of the world, even in the most impoverished areas, has a quality…
One of the marvels of nature is how tremendous beauty, diversity and harmony are built on some of the most elementary building blocks. Mankind, with his genius, by means of technology and art, has made what Dante once called the…