To quickly answer the question asked by the title of this article: Of course not. But listening to most Church leaders today, a Catholic would think that it is one of those sins that cry out to Heaven for vengeance (pardon that terribly antediluvian reference.) In fact, opposition to it is a mandate of both … Read more
Does Jesus Love You Just the Way You Are? No. Against such absurd claims, only sharp replies will do. Like ice water splashed onto the face of a hallucinating man, the sharp reply brings a man back to his senses. Indeed, such ubiquitous sloganeering is built upon decades of theological dissent, very much the way … Read more
In 132 AD Emperor Hadrian punished a Jewish insurrection by leveling all of Jerusalem. His engineers selected Calvary as the site of the Forum and capital of the new city Aelia Capitolina. He erected a statue of Jupiter over the Holy Sepulcher, and of Venus over the spot where Christ was crucified. In Bethlehem, Hadrian … Read more
Any alert Catholic paying attention over the past 60 years well knows the familiar slogan of this article’s title. Well, almost. That last word in the title was never an original part of the slogan. Therein lies a story—and a lesson. In the raucous wake of the ending of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) a … Read more
This past half-century or so has seen the word love dragged through the mud. Once a queen; now a harlot. No surprise that beneath this strain the word has lost its luster. Repeated blows have so flattened its majesty that it can mean anything; and thus, it means nothing. In the past few years, this … Read more
Ominous. It is the only word which can adequately describe the 2020 Pew Research Study. It polled Catholics on their belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Almost 70 percent polled said no. Chilling, but not surprising. Even a casual glance at parishioners receiving Holy Communion in most Catholic parishes reveals … Read more
On October 4th, Basic Books released George Weigel’s latest work, To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II. It left much of the Catholic world slightly confused, except for that dwindling minority still starstruck by Vatican II’s promise of a “new Pentecost.” Far be it for any faithful Catholic to call into question … Read more
From Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to … Read more
It may seem like a lifetime ago, but some may recall the habited Catholic nun who spoke at the Republican National Convention last August. She held up her Rosary and exclaimed: “This is our most powerful weapon!” With lightning speed, a post appeared on social media (full disclosure: that term is as foreign to me … Read more
Yes, I confess it. Before all the readers of New Oxford Review, I stand accused. My vice is shocking because the National Catholic Reporter has been the paper of record for the ‘spirit of Vatican II’ faux Catholicism for the past 50 years. It has been the Congressional Record of the Catholic Left, chronicling the … Read more