One of my favorite contemporary authors is Michael O’Brien, a Canadian and a Catholic, who has written numerous intriguing novels with compelling spiritual themes.
Tag: culture
Embracing history and culture
As we enter into a new year of grace, I urge everyone to consciously build up a Catholic culture around you, and watch what the Lord will do!
A further look at faith and culture
Two weeks ago, I reflected briefly on the fundamental shift in worldview in the West, beginning with the Renaissance and then gaining greater traction with the French Revolution and the Enlightenment.
This movement from a theistic, God-centered vision to a humanistic, this-worldly orientation is complex, long, and multi-faceted, and therefore not easy to fully understand or articulate.
A look at faith and culture over time
When we take a long, hard look at our culture today, it is painfully clear that we are in a profound crisis.
The racial, economic, political divisions in society, exacerbated by COVID, the elections last fall, and the violence in our midst, have become a profound obstacle to unity, peace, compassion, and even truth.
State Knights congratulate grant recipients
MADISON — The Wisconsin Knights of Columbus thanks all the Madison area recipients of the grants, distributed on October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, for applying for the 2020 State Culture of Life Grant Fund.
The Knights consider it an honor to participate in this way in the life-affirming work of the worthy recipients.
Working together, the Wisconsin Knights of Columbus raised more than $105,000 to provide grants to numerous pro-life agencies throughout the state to help fulfill our shared mission — cultivating a culture of life.We can transform the world
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You are the light of the world. Don’t take my word for it, that’s Gospel truth from Jesus himself (Mt 5:14). And it’s a tall order, indeed.
Now on the other hand in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Now that at first glance makes far more sense. After all, Jesus — God in the flesh — is obviously “the light of the world.”
During Lent, stop whining and listen to God more
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe Lent is upon us again, but here it is! And though it might not always be our first response to that reality, I wish to say first, “thanks be to God for that!”
Protecting unborn in a ‘throw-away culture’
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What a sight! Over 25 times from the top of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., I have seen a sea of people marching to proclaim the dignity of unborn human life and how death-dealing abortion sends the unholy message that some human beings are disposable.
As I write, I plan to march with and view that sea of people once again during the 42nd annual March for Life on January 22. It’s always a moral and spiritual shot-in-the-arm for me.
We have to do more
But good as they are, the Washington March for Life and the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, as well as dozens of similar events at state capitols throughout the U.S., are simply not enough.
Problems with ‘hook-up’ culture
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From the 1950s through the late 1970s, Karol Wojtyla (St. John Paul II) was a professor of moral philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin in Poland, specializing in sexual ethics and what we call today “marriage and family life.”
He produced two important books touching on these matters, The Acting Person, a rigorous philosophical exploration of Christian anthropology, and Love and Responsibility, a much more accessible analysis of love, sex, and marriage.
These texts provided the foundation for the richly textured teaching of St. John Paul II that now goes by the name “theology of the body.”
Cultivating ‘spirituality of encounter’ this Advent
In September, Pope Francis celebrated “the blessing of long life” with thousands of senior citizens and their families.
In his homily that day, he spoke about the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, calling it “a Gospel of encounter.”
The pope encouraged those present — and through them, all of us — to follow Mary’s example and re-establish a covenant between the young and the old.