General
Month: December 2012
General
Peter Jackson’s “Hobbit”: Is It J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth?
After spending half an hour with my wife in an empty theater before discovering that we were “mislocated” (I’m not the cleverest hobbit in the Shire), we raced to the right theater just as the […]
Analysis
The Real Social Justice Issue: Taking Care of the Violent Mentally Ill
In the aftermath of the heartbreaking school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, the editors at the National Catholic Reporter have joined with the leaders of the Soros-supported advocacy organization Catholics United to demand […]
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Video: Benedict prays for school shooting victims, families
Today during his weekly Angelus address, Pope Benedict XVI addressed English-speaking pilgrims assembled in St. Peter’s Square, expressing his grief over Friday’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT and offering prayers and condolences […]
Editorial
America Still Has Half a Soul. For Now.
I got a late start yesterday morning and didn’t hear the news until a few hours after it broke. My wife had an appointment, and so I made breakfast for our three (home schooled) children, […]
General
Joy! Anticipation! Fire?
Readings: • Zep 3:14-18a • Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 • Phil 4:4-7 • Lk 3:10-18 “Great joy,” wrote G. K. Chesterton, “has in it the sense of immortality…” Joy, like love, hope, and goodness, […]
General
Vatican, Diocese of Bridgeport respond to tragic school shooting
In the wake of today’s horror in Newtown, Connecticut, both the Holy See and the Diocese of Bridgeport—which includes Newtown—have released statements expressing grief and shock and offering prayers and condolences to all those affected […]
General
America’s Growing Government Class
Editor’s note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator. The latest unemployment figures are again depressing, but not for the usual reasons. They provide further confirmation of Barack Obama’s fundamental transformation […]
Books
John Paul II, As His Friends Knew Him
The books about Pope John Paul II are now coming out in a steady flow—and there is some fascinating material here. Jerzy Kluger’s childhood friendship with Karol Wojtyla—they were schoolmates together in Wadowice, spent much […]
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Alfred Hitchcock in his final days: “Let’s have Mass.”
From a fascinating Wall Street Journal piece, “Alfred Hitchcock’s Final Surprise” (Dec. 6, 2012), by Fr. Mark Henninger, S.J.: At the time [1980], I was a graduate student in philosophy at UCLA, and I was […]