Record Easter Converts Credit Catholic Influencers—What the Church Isn't Learning From It

Happy Easter everybody! Resurrexit sicut dixit! May the grace of the risen Lord be with you and your loved ones in abundance on this highest of all holy days.

Forty Theses on the SSPX

The news as of late has simply been dominated by the spectre of the impending SSPX consecrations in July. I have hitherto avoided any discussion of the matter, as I don't follow SSPX news nor do I have any history with the Society, for good or ill. I came to Tradition apart from them and have never found them to be an integral part of my own spiritual journey. And I certainly do not view them as an escape hatch in case things get bad enough, nor do I see them as standard-bearers of the Trad movement, so I don't feel that invested in whatever happens in July. 

Priest as Therapist—The "Jackson Pollocking" of the Priesthood

Gather round, children, and Uncle Boniface will tell you a story.

A few dioceses over from me is a large diocesan Catholic high school. For years a certain Boomer priest was assigned to chaplain duty here. Fr. Boomer's days were quite busy: besides saying the daily Masses and offering confessions, he spent a lot of time doing one-on-one spiritual direction appointments with the students, helping them to work through their various problems. The students made ample use of his availability, and the priest undertook the work cheerfully, believing it to be an integral part of his chaplaincy duties.

Renewal of James Larson's "Rosary to the Interior" for Candlemas

As many readers of this blog know, I was privileged to enjoy a long and fruitful professional collaboration with the late James Larson, which continued on until his death in 2020. After his passing, I worked with his family to bring Larson's essential essays to print in the book The War Against Being and the Return to God, in which Mr. Larson argued that essential problem at the heart of Church's crisis is the rejection of a Thomistic philosophical framework.

In Thy Light We See Light

There is a beautiful passage in the Psalms which says "In thy light do we see light" (Ps. 36:9). 

Light is one of the richest metaphors in the Scriptures, possessing multiple layers of meaning. On the one hand, it is  a powerful symbol for the incomprehensible splendor of God's essence. "God is light," St. John tells us (1 John 1:5), and Paul says "God dwells in unapproachable light" (1 Tim. 6:16). "The Lord God is a sun and shield," says the Psalmist (Ps. 84:11). 

"Be Sober and Watch": Recognizing the Voice of the Evil One

There is truly an ocean of Catholic spiritual literature out there on the subject of learning to recognize the voice of God. As essential as this is, I have found it to be equally important to learn to recognize the voice of the devil.