The typical American lifestyle is an illustration of what has been called frenetic intemperance – a frenzy of economic activity to attain as much as possible as quickly as possible. This need for immediacy in all things has had dire consequences on multiple levels in society, a fact that is well documented in John Horvat’s … Read more
In making my list of gift suggestions for Christmas, I could not help but reflect that what we need most are things spiritual, not material. We need things that will not agitate us but which will fill us with peace and order. We don’t need “stuff” to fill our closets but gifts that are enduring … Read more
Far beyond the ocean, in a valley in the Austrian Alps, lies the age-old village of Oberndorf, looking now much as it did one, two, or three hundred years ago. In the center of the village, near a swift-flowing stream, stands a whitewashed church with a tall red-topped steeple. The low houses, their slanting roofs … Read more
Christmas should be a time of great joy, but oftentimes it isn’t. Perhaps the joy is lost in the season’s gaudy and frantic commercialization that has turned a great holy day into a secular holiday. There is also the loud revelry of winter parties present that tends to suffocate the memories of calm Christmases past. … Read more
This “liberating” secular society inevitably leaves a profound void inside the soul of modern man creating a frustration and desolation that many have termed a spiritual wasteland. Such an attitude calls to mind the condition that Saint Thomas Aquinas calls acedia, which he defines as the weariness for holy and spiritual things and a subsequent … Read more
It is Christmas and we all think back on Christmases past not without a bit of nostalgia for what the feast represents. We think back on Christmas trees, manger scenes and midnight Masses. We recall family dinners, marveling children and Christmas carols. Such memories fill us with joys in a brutal world ever more joyless. … Read more
From our earliest days, we are taught to reject anything that remotely relies upon some kind of religious authority or distant tradition. No such guild posts are allowed since they make judgments, which all must follow. The modern mentality is the belief that all must form their own judgment about absolutely everything. Such a formidable … Read more
The American education system has long been in crisis. It seems every administration seeks to reform the system, but it usually ends up making matters worse. The book, Can America’s Schools Be Saved? How the Ideology of American Education Is Destroying It? helps explain what has gone wrong. Author Edwin Benson has seen it all. … Read more
As I was reading an article on an online news site, I chanced upon an advertisement for a beautiful Christmas tree. Indeed, it was an actual Christmas tree, not a holiday, winter or sparkle tree that celebrates some unknown winter solstice festivity. This letter unapologetically used the word Christmas and the tree actually looked inviting … Read more
Over 200 faithful Catholics in Florida converged on Boca Raton’s Sanborn Park Square on December 1 to protest a satanic “Christmas” display next to a Catholic Nativity scene. They soon learned to their joy that the display would not be appearing this year as it has for the past two years. Sponsored by the American … Read more
