My issue of Benedictus arrived around the same time Pope Francis dropped the liturgical and canonical bomb called Traditionis Custodes. On seeing TC, I wondered what Sophia Institute Press (the publisher behind the monthly booklet) was going to do. I didn’t have long to wonder. A few days later, Sophia sent out an email to…
How COVID-19 Prepared Us for Traditionis Custodes
Traditiones Custodes has left me feeling, increasingly, like I’m in a novel. I don’t mean this is in a dissociative sense. I mean that it increasingly feels as if a lot of threads that, at one time didn’t appear to be related or important, are coming together. Traditionis Custodes and the Survey The release of…
Article in Ecce!
I’m super excited to announce that I have an article in the print-only Catholic magazine, Ecce! It’s entitled “A Casual Blasphemy”. That’s all I want to say, other than that it digs a little into Hollywood and media. If you haven’t purchased a copy of Ecce, go do it! I’m sure it takes off time…
Frequent Confession: A Book Review
I still remember it like yesterday. As a new convert, I burned with a desire to grow in holiness. However, I struggled with certain sins and scruples. My RCIA class never talked about frequent confession but I knew it was a feature of saints’ lives. I wanted to grow in holiness, so, following the examples…
Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Five Wounds
Devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus is ancient. The first record of their veneration is from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, when St. Thomas touched them while Jesus exhorted him to believe He had risen from the dead. One does not immediately connect the Five Wounds with the Chaplet of Divine…
A Hole in the Ceiling: A Meditation on Mark 2:1-12
Place yourself in first century Palestine. No cell phones. No Internet. And, blessedly, no social media. You’re a good Jew. You attend synagogue. You celebrate all of the feasts and fasts. Every year, you go to Jerusalem for the Passover. You try to adhere to all of the rules and regulations but you know you…
Sanity and the COVID Vaccine
Last week, Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Catholics raised moral concerns about the vaccine due to its connection to abortion. However, both the Vatican and the USCCB deemed it morally acceptable because the connection was “remote”. The two most important figures in the Catholic Church…
The Most Chaste Heart of St. Joseph
Because of my Protestant background, I love the clarity the Catholic Church offers (or is supposed to offer). I don’t have to rely on my own understanding to draw close to God. I can turn to the writings of Catholics over the centuries, an equivalent of which no Protestant can claim, and look for the…
Pope Francis Declares a Year of St. Joseph
Devotees of St. Joseph, get excited! To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX proclaiming St. Joseph patron of the universal church, Pope Francis has declared a Year of St. Joseph. The year begins on December 8, 2020 and will end December 8, 2021. Accompanying the degree, the Pope released an apostolic letter about…
Do You Fast for Advent?
When I first saw priests wearing purple for Advent, I suspected something penitential was going on. However, no one told me to fast, or give alms, or do anything other than prepare to pack on a few pounds from all the dessert I was about to consume. For many years, I lit candles on my…