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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

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A must read: "American Babylon"

A must read: "American Babylon"
by Richard John Neuhaus

Cardinal Ruini describing the ills of modernity...

The first and greatest priority is God himself, that God who is too easily pushed to the edges of our lives, focused on "doing," especially through "techno-science," and on "enjoyment-consumption." That God is even expressly negated by an evolutionist "metaphysics" that reduces everything to nature, to matter-energy, to chance (random mutations) and to necessity (natural selection), or more often is said to be unknowable according to the principle that "latet omne verum," all truth is hidden, as a result of the restriction of the horizons of our reason to that which can be experienced and measured, according to the view now prevalent. That God, finally, who has been proclaimed "dead," with the assertion of nihilism and the resulting collapse of all certainty.

The most terrible malady in the West today is not tubercolosis or leprosy but feeling unwanted, unloved and abandoned. We know how to cure bodily sickness with medicine, but the only remedy for loneliness, helplessness and despair is love. Many die in our world for lack of a piece of bread but even more die for lack of a little love. Poverty in the West is a different sort of poverty: not just the poverty of being alone but also of spirituality. There is such a thing as a hunger for love just as there is a hunger for God.

-Blessed Theresa of Calcutta


About the author...

I am a Catholic Christian deeply concerned about the state of affairs in the modern world; certainly, the world is fallen, but these are unique times. We are living in a civilization that has lost its roots- a world dominated by phony 'consensus building' and the "dictatorship of relativism". John Paul II famously observed during a speech at the 'Mars Hill' of the modern world - the U.N.-
It is one of the great paradoxes of our time that man, who began the period we call "modernity" with a self-confident assertion of his "coming of age" and "autonomy", approaches the end of the twentieth century fearful of himself, fearful of what he might be capable of, fearful for the future.
Over the last four decades, Christianity has even questioned the importance of its doctrines, tradition, identity, and even itself. I am convinced that orthodox Christian faith, especially Catholicism, bears the fullness of Truth to shed light on the darkness of this world, leading mankind to his ultimate destiny with God. The Church has the ability to answer the deepest longings of the human heart: love, Truth, justice, hope, faith, charity, communion, unity, and above all a relationship with the Creator. The Church, divinely instituted, is the only power on earth that has the tools to build a culture around those aforementioned longings. She must permeate every aspect of modern life with a powerful witness to the Truth; as Pope Benedict has said,
Christianity, Catholicism, isn't a collection of prohibitions; it's a positive option.

Ideas that are central to the thought of this blog...

  • "Affirmative orthodoxy"
  • "Christianity, Catholicism, isn’t a collection of prohibitions: it’s a positive option."
  • "The entire span of human history is marked by the the choosing of Love or the refusal to Love."
  • Battling the "Dictatorship of Relativism"
  • Cooperatores Veritatis (We are Co-operators of the Truth)
  • Dominus Iesus (Jesus is God)
  • Ecumenism: unity only without sacrificing Truth
  • Fides et Ratio (Faith & Reason)
  • Helping the modern west: a Civilization without roots
  • Hermeneutic of Continuity - the lens by which the Church views herself
  • Liturgy: Say the Black, do the Red.
  • Natural Law
  • ORA ET LABORA (prayer & work)
  • Save the Liturgy, Save the World! (rich Christian culture/identity enriches the surrounding culture in a positive way)
  • The Dignity of the Human Person
  • The Family: foundation of civilization
  • Tradition: the passing on of the living faith
  • Truth

Pope Benedict XVI & Ecumenical Patriarch Barthowlomew I

Pope Benedict XVI & Ecumenical Patriarch Barthowlomew I
Praying for authentic Christian unity
Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Topics on this blog...

  • 2008 Synod (5)
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  • AIDS (1)
  • Anglicanism (22)
  • art and architecture (16)
  • atheism (27)
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  • Catholic Universities/Schools (5)
  • Catholicism (152)
  • charity (19)
  • chastity (5)
  • Chesterton (2)
  • Christian witness (110)
  • Christmas (1)
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  • church and state (27)
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  • controversy (128)
  • conversion (55)
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  • devotion (1)
  • ecclesiology (2)
  • ecumenism (68)
  • education (60)
  • Eucharist (9)
  • evolution (8)
  • exile (3)
  • faith and reason (11)
  • fasting (1)
  • Fathers of the Church (1)
  • feminism (13)
  • food crisis (1)
  • fundamentalism (27)
  • gay 'rights' (18)
  • global warming (12)
  • going 'green' (3)
  • Green Thomism (3)
  • hatred (4)
  • heresy (35)
  • hermeneutic of continuity (18)
  • history (3)
  • Humanae Vitae (6)
  • humor (35)
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  • natural law (8)
  • Obama (5)
  • Orthodox Patriarchs (9)
  • Orthodoxy (56)
  • papacy (73)
  • parenting (22)
  • Patristic Writings (5)
  • Paul VI (3)
  • persecuting the faith (5)
  • philosophy (2)
  • Pius XII (4)
  • politics (95)
  • Pope Benedict XVI (115)
  • Pope Benedict's USA Visit 2008 (5)
  • pornification of culture (40)
  • pro life issues (58)
  • Protestantism (22)
  • pusillanimity (11)
  • questions of faith (143)
  • Regensburg Address (32)
  • Relativism (26)
  • Sacraments (20)
  • Saints (41)
  • schism (20)
  • science (24)
  • Scripture (22)
  • Second Vatican Council (11)
  • secularism (93)
  • spirituality (10)
  • SSPX (7)
  • St. Paul (4)
  • stem cells (8)
  • technology (12)
  • the Incarnation (19)
  • The Jews (9)
  • the youth (12)
  • Theology of the Body (7)
  • Tradition (78)
  • tragedy (34)
  • U.N. (6)
  • University of St. Thomas (2)
  • USCCB (1)
  • Vocation (39)
  • war (8)
  • Zenit articles (31)

A friendly reminder for priests:

A friendly reminder for priests:

Saint Isidore (d. 636)

Saint Isidore (d. 636)

A prayer before logging onto the internet:

Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thine image
and bade us to seek after all that is good, true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person of Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant, we beseech Thee,
that, through the intercession of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor,
during our journeys through the internet
we will direct our hands and eyes only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Father John Zulsdorf)

Latest Entries...

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      • New stuff to post
      • "Goodbye Bland Affluence"
      • The 'crunchy' pope
      • "Price, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"
      • The scandal of teacher unions...
      • Twittering church?
      • A very moving photo-essay
      • The Crappiest Generation (hilarious)
      • More 'global warming' shenanigans...
      • Celiac allergy & the Eucharist
      • Top 20 Patristic books by Mike Aquilina
      • Homeland Security vs. the conscience
      • Islam & 'respect' - what about the rest of us?
      • Abortion & Sexism destroys a generation in China
      • On the Shroud of Turin & The Resurrection
      • On Orthodox chant
      • Roofer speaks like a prophet
      • Orthodx prelate: Benedict XVI good; John Paul II b...
      • American Papist: 32 bishops now against Obama at UND
      • Brooks on 'the end of philosophy' or 'the end of h...
      • Metropolitan Jonah on American Orthodoxy - a magnu...
      • Healing homosexual attractions... a study
      • Forcing students to condone homosexuality - EMU in...
      • Shea & Zmirak on living in exile
      • Marriage for all - a homosexual manifesto
      • BXVI on the Holy Triduum of Easter
      • Save the monastery & liturgy, save the world!
      • Vermont Gay 'Marriage' and consequences...
      • Gay marriage = polygamy
      • Tony Blair... model of a Catholic convert (embaras...
      • Bizzare: mom wants dead son's sperm to create 'gra...
      • Modern liberalism and destruction of society...
      • Metropolitan Jonah (OCA) vs. Patriarch Barthowlemew
      • Weigel on Neuhaus, Dulles, Smith, & Canavan....
      • Hilarious irony! Robot independed from creator...
      • More miracles for John Paul II
      • Vatican responds to Belgium's facism...
      • JPII remembered & Orthodoxy
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An excellent Catholic publisher

An excellent Orthodox publisher

"Cheers, Old Books Club." -Grandpa Joe
 

Dominus Iesus!

Dominus Iesus!
This is an amazing book about Jesus, perfect for a post-Christian world becoming increasingly confused about the Son of Man.