[My response to "A Catholic tradition of social justice," The News & Observer, May 12, 2012] We Catholics do not just help the poor; we are the poor. For this reason we share our gifts with each other. Indeed, some of these gifts will go toward the construction of a new Cathedral, which in turn [...]
Archive for the ‘prose’ Category
Letter to the Editor: Catholics and the Poor
Posted in prose, tagged Catholicism, charity, Church, current-events, Diocese of Raleigh, Letter to the Editor, News & Observer, political campaigns, politics, poverty, religion, Roman Catholic Church on 24 May, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Prayers before the Cross
Posted in prose, tagged death, Good Friday, Mother Mary on 6 April, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
As we contemplate the mysteries of Christ’s passion and cross, I offer you the words of a friend, who in this last year lost one of her young sons. She beautifully finds her place before the cross of Christ next to His Holy Mother Mary, who too is trying to understand the mystery in the death [...]
Wood Smoke
Posted in prose, tagged Craig Leisher, Harry Richardson, Schenck Forest, The New York Times, Umstead Forest, wood smoke, wood stoves on 5 December, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Those Romantic Wood Stoves (5 Dec 2011): There are some good things about heating with wood. I like that wood is a renewable resource and that all of the wood we burn came from the forest around the cabin. I like that heating with wood has an ancient heritage, and now I understand this heritage [...]
Letter to the Editor: Can’t We Just Argue?
Posted in prose, tagged classical liberalism, gambling, legalized gambling, Letter to the Editor, liberalism, Naked Public Square, The News and Observer, The People's Forum on 4 December, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Submitted to The People’s Forum, The News & Observer, 4 Dec 2011: Can’t we just argue? I am disappointed with Mr. Hodges Dec 2 letter (“Our Gambling Ways”), which objects on the grounds of personal freedoms to any disapproval of the legalized gambling (see “Loaded Deck”). This is the downward trajectory of classical liberalism: allowing [...]
And with your spirit
Posted in prose, tagged Bishop Michael Burbidge, Catholicism, Francis Randolph, Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread, Mass, new translation, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Missal, Roman Missal Third Edition, Sacred Heart Cathedral on 28 November, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Priest: The Lord be with you. People: And with your spirit. – Laura and I attended 10:30 Mass this morning at Sacred Heart Cathedral for the First Sunday of Advent, which was celebrated by Bishop Michael Burbidge. This morning also marked the first singing of the new Roman Missal, Third Edition, alluded to in a [...]
The Naked Public Square
Posted in citations, prose, tagged Church and State, Denver, First Amendment, Naked Public Square, Richard John Neuhaus, The New York Times on 25 November, 2011 | 1 Comment »
From The New York Times : DENVER — They call him Big Mountain Jesus: a six-foot statue of Christ, draped in a baby blue robe and gazing out over the majestic Flathead Valley from his perch along a ski run at the Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana. He has been there for more than 50 [...]
The Community of Mrs. Frisby
Posted in prose, tagged community, farming, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, narrative, Robert C. O'Brien, sustainability on 17 October, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O’Brien (1971) I remember reading this in my early years of reading, perhaps at age nine or ten, before the great Hobbit revelation, but Mrs. Frisby is a book seasoned adults can enjoy and should read, not only to their children, but for their own edification. [...]
Occupy Raleigh
Posted in prose, tagged Occupy Raleigh, Occupy Wall Street, protesting, Raleigh, witness on 16 October, 2011 | 3 Comments »
From New Raleigh: The Occupy Raleigh protests today ended in the arrest of 19 people. State Capitol Police requested that the group leave the Capitol grounds and when some didn’t comply, they were arrested. At that point the crowd had dwindled to around 100 from its peak. Those Raleigh Police reported that 400 were in [...]
New Seeds of Contemplation
Posted in citations, prose, tagged New Seeds of Contemplation, Roman Catholic Church, sainthood, saints, solitude, Thomas Merton on 29 January, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
There is no true solitude except interior solitude. And interior solitude is not possible for anyone who does not accept his right place in relation to other men. There is no true peace possible for a man who still imagines that some accident of talent or grace or virtue segregates him from other men and [...]
