The Liturgical Traditions surrounding Advent have mystified me, in the truest sense of the word, for decades. Unfortunately, because they are wedded in most people’s minds to traditions proper to Christmas, it is difficult, unless true effort is made, to…
Trinity Sunday is always that Sunday which makes theologically literate people cringe. Some people used to call it ‘Heresy Sunday’ or something similar, because so many Priests and Deacons seemed unable to articulate in a convincing, cogent way the Supreme…
Many, perhaps most, of the discoveries made by the human race have taken place when we have been busy about doing other things. From the possible beginnings of cooking, to the invention of antibiotics, we always seem to find our…
After Our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we are told that the first place he went was to the Temple, where he prophesied, “There will not be one stone upon another that will not be torn down.” (Matthew…
The following talk was given in response to an invitation to give a Lenten Talk on Prayer to a chapter of ‘The King’s Men’, a Catholic men’s group, on 9 April 2019. Allow me to begin this talk by expressing…
This week, among my readings I was greatly edified by an offering from Father Gordon Macrae in his blog These Stone Walls, with his April 3 2019 piece A Little Perspective before Stoning Your Priest. He touched on some subjects…
In the beginning of this month, the New York Times published the OpEd of Arthur C. Brooks, Our Culture of Contempt, which highlighted an insightful phenomenon that is very lively in the world today. We do indeed live in a…
Lent is a time of year which, for most practicing Christians, is earnestly expected and beloved, in spite of, or perhaps because of, its usual austerity. As Christianity largely developed in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, the experience of most Christians…
Today’s topic appears way too frequently in my daily experience to not be mentioned at least once in an article. Let me make a provocative statement: 90% of the world’s problems are caused by people who either believe that they…
The Gospel of Epiphany Day is simultaneously thrilling and infuriating. We read about the Magi who come mysteriously from the East, seeking the newborn King of the Jews. We read about the response of Herod, and his veiled hostility to…