Today, the third Sunday in Lent, we read from Luke chapter 13: There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered …
Category: Christianity
Mar 16 2025
To Transfigure And Prefigure
On the second Sunday of the Lenten season, we read of the episode called the Transfiguration: And it came to pass about eight days after these words, that he took Peter, and James, and John, and went up into a mountain to pray. And whilst he prayed, the shape of his countenance was …
Mar 08 2025
He Who Dares To Question The Official Line…
…had better watch his back: This is about the extraordinary case of Rev Dr Bernard Randall and the latest developments in his story. In 2019, Dr Randall, an ordained Church of England (CofE) minister, was working without any issues at Trent College in Derbyshire. The college had a CofE chapel and a CofE …
Mar 05 2025
Ash Wednesday
You’ve heard me say, on other occasions and in other places, that I don’t much like contemporary poetry. Nearly all of it strikes me as worthless. Among other things, the disdain contemporary poets show for rhyme and meter suggests that they don’t actually have the chops to write poetry. Someone once compared rhymeless, meterless …
Mar 02 2025
On Approaching The Lenten Season
This coming Wednesday, March 5, is Ash Wednesday for the Year of Our Lord 2025. The Lenten season begins on that day and extends through Good Friday: April 18 of this year. It’s supposed to be a season of penitence and reflection, during which Catholics strive to deepen our appreciation and gratitude for Jesus’s …
Feb 16 2025
Lamentations
The detail differences in the four Gospels, according to my pastor, are because they were written for different audiences. Well and good, but it sometimes troubles me that certain events and utterances of the Redeemer can be found only in one or two of the four. Take this passage from the Gospel according to …
Jan 26 2025
A Quick Reflection (UPDATED)
Good morning, Gentle Reader. I’m facing an extremely busy day, so I have to keep this shorter than usual. Forgive me, as I know brevity is not one of the virtues you come here to “enjoy.” My pastor just had the congregation fill out a questionnaire about parish priorities and our desires for …
Dec 30 2024
A Great Returning Part 2: Mythos And Ethos
My first piece on this subject was “a view from a height.” It addressed no particulars. That was by design. The particulars require particular attention. As I’ve written before, a religious creed will incorporate both a theology about the supernatural realm and its relation to our temporal reality, and a code of conduct …
Dec 28 2024
A Great Returning?
Quoth Chris Queen: We’ve heard a prevailing narrative that Americans are drifting away from faith in general and Christianity more specifically. For a long time, we’ve seen interviews with celebrities who grew up in Christian homes but now consider themselves “spiritual but not religious.” Surveys make a big deal out of how many …
Dec 27 2024
Winter Wonderings
No, not “winter wonders.” This will not be a rhapsody about the splendor of the white-mantled hills, the frosty sparkle of snow-covered dogs, or the power of frozen car batteries to awaken us to the glory of Nature. I have another subject in mind. At this time of year, especially in the run-up …
Dec 22 2024
The Courage Of The Women
Welcome to the Fourth Sunday in Advent, the last such before we celebrate the Nativity of Christ (a.k.a. Christmas). On this day, the Gospel reading concerns not one but two surprise pregnancies, and the coming-together of the women who bore them: And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country …
Dec 15 2024
Rejoicing
I am frequently discouraged by the incompetence of priests and other clerics. You’d think such persons would receive some training in occupationally critical matters: how to give a sermon, for example. Apparently there are no such courses in seminaries. I shan’t name names, but on this Gaudete Sunday, a good sermon would have …
Dec 07 2024
“Racism:” A Tirade.
I just caught a Catholic priest denouncing a man he does not know as a racist: Anyone baptized a Catholic is a Catholic: you can’t become uncatholic. That does not mean every Catholic acts in accord with that baptism. Neither you nor Biden are examples of acting in accord with baptism. You are racist; …
Nov 30 2024
The Year’s End
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, is of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” — C. S. Lewis. You don’t have to be a Catholic to appreciate the season of Advent. For the next four weeks, Christians everywhere will prepare for the holy day that commemorates …
Nov 17 2024
Willed Ignorance
We’re very near to the end of Ordinary Time in the Church liturgical year. Next Sunday will be the feast of Christ the King. After that begins the Advent season, when Christians prepare themselves to commemorate the birth of the Son of God in mortal flesh. In a way, the birth of Christ …
Oct 22 2024
To Our Days Of Realism
I’m going to disturb you, Gentle Reader. Some of you, at least. You may find what follows antiquated, a delusion of a past century. Perhaps you’ll deem it offensive. But I have something in mind that Rudyard Kipling expresses beautifully in the poem below. Take up the White Man’s burden Send forth the best …
Sep 22 2024
Christian Simplicity
You’ve seen me cite the following passage more than once: And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but …
Aug 17 2024
Long Walks
“Powerful minds tend to complete their own investigations, once they’ve been given a reason to investigate at all.” – Pope Clement XV Relax, relax. Pope Francis hasn’t departed this life without you hearing about it, you news junkie, you. Clement XV is a character in one of my novels: the first American to …
Aug 11 2024
Preaching Politics
I really, really dislike coming home from Mass in a state of pique. There’s been enough talk – more than enough, really – about Pope Francis and his open espousal of socialism. It’s deplorable and worse, but the subject has been exercised sufficiently that everyone in Christendom, and points south and east, is …
Aug 04 2024
Well well, look who finally showed up
Jorge Bergoglio the anti-Pope finally had someone issue a statement regarding the blasphemous opening of the Paris Olympics. “The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers …
Fran’s Recent Novels
Margaret’s Recent Novels
