Glad Trad 4.2: Tim Gordon on a Catholic Community
In this podcast, Tim Gordon and I discuss the two directions Catholic community in America could take via Clint Eastwood’s movie “Gran Torino," namely love of society or love of the individual.
Glad Trad 4.1: Tim Gordon on a Catholic Republic
In this podcast, Tim Gordon discusses where politics meets religion in his new book, “Catholic Republic: Why America Will Perish Without Rome.” Gordon argues that “America is a republic wired Catholic, labeled Protestant and is currently functioning as a secular.”
Pro Divine Mercy From a Rad-Trad
Most "EWTN Catholics” (for lack of a better term) might be surprised to find that in the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) world, there is sharp divide down the middle between those who believe that the private revelations of Sr. Faustina Kowalska are authentic, versus those who do not. I am referring to the Divine Mercy Diary, a book of private revelation written by a Polish nun in the 1930s. A modern EWTN Catholic could, in an overly-facile manner, condemn traditionalists who are wary of the Divine Mercy message for just being “Jansenist” or “disobedient.” This would be too easy and not fair. Indeed, one must realize that many traditionalists have good reason to doubt what has come out of the human element of the Church since Sr. Lucia of Fatima explained that a “diabolical disorientation” that would infect a [...]
Why You Should Say No to Being an Organ-Donor
Edit: USA Today wrote a very important article following my blog post called Death by Donation: Euthanizing Patients for Organs. Although I am a Catholic priest, I am also an ex-paramedic and I graduated pre-health from Boston College. I am writing this blog post “Why you should say no to organ donation on your driver’s license” as a former paramedic, not as a priest. In other words, this blog post will be practical medical advice for all readers Catholic or non-Catholic. There will be no overt Catholic bioethics below, except these two sentences: The Catholic Church has no problem with organ donation per-se. The problem is that certain organs are always cut out of living people, effecting a homicide for "good reasons." Although a liver or a cornea could be harvested from a cadaver for organ donation from a dead [...]
The Rights of Christ the King over the State
This podcast is about the Social Rights of Christ the King, the rights of the Church to influence the State and the need for modern Catholic Action in things like pro-life rescue.
Did Christ Program the Church to Withstand Every Storm?
Between my initial conversion as a teenager (1997) and about halfway through my nine-years of priesthood (2014) I would probably have been described as a small-fish but bold-agent in the "New Evangelization" of Pope John Paul II. I don't regret those days. I came to know salvation-history through great lay leaders. I saw real miracles in the charismatic movement (as well as some evil things.) As a layman, I had many sins forgiven by priests who did not speak a word of Latin (and some invalid confessions via priests changing the words of absolution.) As much as this blog post might sound primed for a line like "But now I see so much better as a traditionalist!" there are even many things I gained in my eight pre-conversion years under the Jesuits (like a love of the poor.) Most fondly, [...]
Why are Trads So Mean to Each Other?
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.—Jesus Christ in St. Matthew 24:10-14 Why are traditional Catholics so mean to each other? I don’t mean people like Virginia senator Tim Kaine who described himself as a “traditional Catholic.” By “traditional Catholic” I mean people who actually believe that the doctrine and liturgy of the Catholic Church can change by no man. So, why are trad-Catholics so mean to each other? Of course, the most common [...]
Glad Trad Q/A 3: Leila Miller
In today's podcast Leila Miller and I talk about the complementarity of men and women including headship of family, modesty, transgender issues, male-only priesthood in the Old and New Testament, personal conversions and practical advice to those already married and a bit for those in marriage prep. "Have you noted the measure of obedience? Pay attention to love’s high standard. If you take the premise that your wife should submit to you, as the church submits to Christ, then you should also take the same kind of careful, sacrificial thought for her that Christ takes for the church. Even if you must offer your own life for her, you must not refuse. Even if you must undergo countless struggles on her behalf and have all kinds of things to endure and suffer, you must not refuse. Even if you suffer [...]
Church Structures and Supernatural Faith
About 15 years ago, I went to Colorado Springs to visit both the Focus on the Family Visitor Center and New Life Church. The latter is a Protestant community nearby with nearly 14,000 congregants. I always half-joke that Colorado Springs is the "Protestant Vatican," but I am half-serious: These two centers alone are the engines for countless missions in dozens of countries, not to mention the hundreds of other Protestant communities in Colorado Springs. In Colorado Springs, many Catholics might be surprised to see that Protestants have a relatively unabashed approach to "sacramentals." Many Protestant Mega-Church communities now sell "holy water" from the Jordan and "holy oil" made from olives from the Garden outside Jerusalem. You can purchase small bottles with labels of oil from the Holy Land and bring it home for personal anointing. In fact, for all the [...]
Glad Trad Q/A 2: Stefanie Nicholas
Will there be animals in heaven? Is St. Gallen's mafia real? Will the Greek Orthodox unite with Rome? How many Muslims believe in sharia? What about Garabandal? Is there Biblical evidence for Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth?