Father David Nix, Author at Padre Peregrino

2 05, 2015

Deodorant

By Father David Nix|2015-05-03T13:37:24+00:00May 2nd, 2015|Updates|

The Americans I live with got me Old Spice, for showers here are rendered useless within five minutes of walking through the streets of Kolkata. Old Spice is a time-tested product that has been eclipsed by newer sprays that promise impassioned encounters with strangers. So, I'm happy to go with the Old Spice. However, with the above advertising, I suspect that Old Spice decided that instead of simply replacing the geriatric connotations with sex, they could just combine the two. This advertising stunt of being self-deprecating is a bit like how Radio Shack had a Super Bowl commercial with the Muppets so as to display a good self-deprecating admission of [...]

1 05, 2015

Sr. Nirmala, Missionary of Charity

By Father David Nix|2015-07-10T13:28:52+00:00May 1st, 2015|Updates|

Sr. Nirmala Joshi MC is found to the left in the picture above. It's taken on 14 March 1997, the day that Mother Teresa and a closed-door vote of about 100 sisters made Sr. Nirmala the Superior General of the 5,000 Missionaries of Charity world-wide. CNN took notice in this article because a Hindu-convert to Catholicism took over the most rapidly-expanding religious order of the 20th century. (Up to that point, her CV was already impressive, as Mother Teresa’s co-founder of the MCs and the foundress of the Contemplative Branch of the Missionaries of Charity in 1976.) Now Sr. Nirmala is 81 years old. She had a heart attack about [...]

29 04, 2015

Life in India

By Father David Nix|2015-04-29T11:08:03+00:00April 29th, 2015|Updates|

28 04, 2015

Jesus and Religion Part III

By Father David Nix|2015-07-10T13:29:34+00:00April 28th, 2015|Theology|

For a few weeks, I’m living in the Muslim quarter of Kolkata. I wear my Roman collar around here, and what's peculiar is that I rarely get snarky looks from the swarms of Muslims and Hindus packed into this city. Actually, I was shocked at how much respect the Muslims gave me on Qatar Airlines even as I wore my cassock. On the other hand, a certain generation of Catholics in the United States treat me very differently when they see the cassock. That generation of Americans always stops me with a unconvincing rictus to tell me some combo of the following: 1. I’m glad that what you’re doing “works for [...]

26 04, 2015

Jesus and Religion Part II

By Father David Nix|2015-06-20T10:52:09+00:00April 26th, 2015|Theology|

The world over is home to about 7 billion people. Did you know that most of these people (4 billion) have never heard of Jesus Christ? These 4 billion have seen neither hide nor hair of any Christian willing to share the Gospel. The area most neglected is in the blue areas of the map above. Most of those 4 billion live here. Some missionaries refer to it as the "10/40 window" because here, between the 10th and 40th latitude, live the most unevangelized peoples. I am currently in this window for a few weeks. Considering the urgency of such a missionary call to evangelize the Far East, we Catholics might be tempted [...]

25 04, 2015

Asian Earthquakes

By Father David Nix|2015-04-27T12:49:08+00:00April 25th, 2015|Updates|

We felt the tremors of both earthquakes this past weekend. I spoke to one minor causality here in Kolkata, but there are thousands of people dead to the north of us. Please pray for the deceased: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32475030

24 04, 2015

Jesus and Religion Part I

By Father David Nix|2015-06-20T10:50:46+00:00April 24th, 2015|Theology|

There's a video that went viral on YouTube by Jefferson Bethke called "Why I hate religion but love Jesus." It has almost 30,000,000 views, and there have been formidable Catholic rebuttals online, in conferences, in podcasts and newspapers. Surprisingly, none of the Catholic apologists whom I have read (which admittedly is only a few) have pointed out that the word "religion" is promoted as a good thing in the New Testament: "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and [...]

24 04, 2015

The dangers of nighttime taxis

By Father David Nix|2015-04-25T10:08:50+00:00April 24th, 2015|Updates|

Last night, at 10pm, I took a taxi from a restaurant here in India to the priest home near Bl. Mother Teresa's "Motherhouse." As the taxi started, a dwarf jumped in my taxi, unannounced and uninvited. He said to me "Hello, boss!" from his side in the back where we both were. He immediately rolled his window and popped his head out as we barreled through traffic. He began yelling at the extremely crowded Kolkata streets in Bengali, assumedly to get out of the way. With his head out, standing up, he looked like an American cowboy hooting and hollering, stomping his feet in delight against the floor of the taxi. The driver [...]

22 04, 2015

Kolkata, India

By Father David Nix|2015-09-17T00:52:19+00:00April 22nd, 2015|Updates|

22 04, 2015

Consolation versus Desolation

By Father David Nix|2015-05-02T15:34:10+00:00April 22nd, 2015|Theology|

Flying over India last night, I found that every time I lifted my heart to God, I was given tremendous peace and consolation, especially when I thought of St. Francis Xavier bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to that land 37,000 feet below me, dark at 3am and barely alit with the poor lights of over a billion people. I wondered why this joy didn't happen every time I prayed! That is what this post is about: Why we enjoy God in prayer some days, and then fear our time in prayer on other days. I just finished offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the tomb of Mother [...]

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