Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 250

Aw, shucks, we're blushing

Actually, I'm not, if only because my deep and perfect Oregon winter tan—dont' believe me? See it here—won't reveal any blushing at all. Anyhow, Marcel of Aggie Catholics has listed his picks for "Best Catholic Bloggers of 2011", and this shy, mild-mannered, and retiring blogger made the cut:

Carl Olson - Ignatius Insight Scoop.
Books, music, culture, and more. I have no idea how Carl reads as much as he does or listens to as much music as he does. Must help to work where he does.

No, working at home doesn't help my reading and listening habits, but, yes, working for Ignatius Press certainly does (which, of course, is what he means).

Also, a couple of months ago, Martin Cothran of Memoria Press and the Vital Remnants blog, listed his favorite blogs. Among the picks:

Insight Scoop & CatholicVote.org: The two best Catholic blogs on the net. Insight Scoop is the blog of Ignatius Press, the most significant (and traditional) Catholic publisher in the United States. Carl Olson does a great job informing readers of new books and cultural trends of interest to Catholics.

Thank you, kind sirs!

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, "a woman of faith, for a time of doubt and uncertainty..."

I've posted this before, but it is worth repeating: a post about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), whose feast is celebrated today, an excerpt from Fr. Charles Connor's Classic Catholic Converts;

Some time later, [Seton] wrote to Amabilia's husband, Antonio:

After reading the life of St. Mary Magdalen, I thought: "Come my soul, let us turn from all these suggestions of one side or the other, and quietly resolve to go to that church which has at least the multitude of the wise and good on its side"; and began to consider the first step I must take. The first step-is it not to declare I believe all that is taught by the Council of Trent.

One event that may have finalized her decision to convert was an action taken by the Anglican Church. In 1783 the church took as its official name the Protestant Episcopal Church. At the new church's first general convention, held in Philadelphia in 1789, the Anglican Book of Common Prayer was revised. Among the significant revisions was this: the former Book of Common prayer had stated that at communion "the Body and Blood of Christ ... are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper." After the revision it said the Body and Blood of Christ are "spiritually taken and received".

The old wording explains Elizabeth's intense devotion to the Anglican sacrament and her eagerness to accept the uncompromising Roman Catholic belief in the Real Presence.

To Amabilia Filicchi she wrote:

A day of days for me. .. . I have been where?-to the Church of St. Peter with the cross on the top instead of a weathercock! ... When I turned the corner of the street it is in- "Here, my God, I go," said I, "[my] heart all to You".

Mrs. Seton was received into the Catholic Church by Father William O'Brien on March 14, 1805, at Saint Peter's Church on Barclay Street. She paid dearly for her action. Her former friends and fellow parishioners thought she was mad, and they developed a bitter opposition to her. Many ofthem tried to persuade parents to remove their children from a small boarding school she had opened for her own livelihood. Eventually, she left New York and with her children went to Baltimore, where she engaged in similar work.

The rest of her story is known worldwide. A group of likeminded women whom she had gathered around her became the core, the nucleus, of the Sisters of Charity. On Paca Street in Baltimore, one can still visit the chapel where Elizabeth Bayley Seton and the others professed their vows.

From Baltimore, Mother Seton and her community moved to the small hamlet of Emmitsburg, Maryland, not far from the Pennsylvania border. Today, one may visit here the tomb of this very American saint, enshrined in a beautiful basilica on the grounds, as well as the graves of two of her five children in an adjoining cemetery. In this quiet, peaceful corner of rural America, Catholic education in the United States had its beginnings. Here, too, was the start of five major divisions of the Sisters of Charity in the United States and Canada. All this exists because of one woman's thirst for the Real Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

At the time of her canonization in 1975, in his foreword to a biography of Mother Seton, Terence Cardinal Cooke summed up her legacy:

In Elizabeth Ann Seton, we have a saint for our times. In Elizabeth Ann Seton, we have a woman of faith, for a time of doubt and uncertainty...a woman of love for a time of coldness and division ... a woman of hope for a time of crisis and discouragement. Thanks be to God for this saintly daughter of New York, for this valiant woman of God's Church."

Related Ignatius Press resources:

• Soul of Saint Elizabeth Seton: A Spiritual Portrait, by Fr. Joseph Dirvin, C.M.
• Mother Seton and the Sisters of Charity, by Alma Power-Waters
• A Time for Miracles (DVD)

The Catholic World Report archives are open!

As of the New Year, all Catholic World Report features, reviews, and other pieces from January 2008 to the present are are accessible online to all readers. Yes, that includes you (yes, I'm talking to you).

Here is the December 2011 issue:

A Dangerous Practice
By Anna Abbott
When Seconds Count
By Daniel Allott
By Anne Hendershott
Cuba's Conscience
By Jordan Allott
Ecclesial Hopes
By Michael J. Miller
A Tale of Three Magazines
By Robert Moynihan
The Future of Concordats
By Alessandra Nucci
A Platform for Christian Politicians
By Edward Pentin
The Blessings of Chastity
By Chuck Weber
The Scandal at 10
By Russell Shaw
Who Do You Say That I Am?
By Christopher White
The Coming Latino Catholic Majority
By Jeff Ziegler
Be Not Afraid
By Jim Graves
Secularist Ireland
By George Neumayr
Beyond Their Expertise
By Philip F. Lawler  
Visit the CWR archives for much more!

Rick Santorum: struggle, then surge, and now scrutiny

My thoughts, on the Catholic World Report blog.

"The Best Books I Read in 2011...": Ignatius Press Authors, Editors, and Friends

"The Best Books I Read in 2011..." | Ignatius Press Authors, Editors, and Friends | January 3, 2012

Another year, another tantalizing list of good and great books noted and recommended in this seventh edition of "Best Books I Read..." As usual, several Ignatius Press editors, authors, and staff were asked to offer their picks for the best books they read during the past year. The books didn't have to be published in 2010--no need to limit great authors and books--nor did they have to be about a specific topic. Simply, "What were the best books you read in the past year?" No limit was set on the number of books, and commentary was optional.

Contributors include Dale Ahlquist, Lucy Beckett, Brad Birzer, Mark Brumley, J. Budziszewski, Joseph M. Callewaert, Anthony E. Clark, Eric Cunningham, Thomas Howard, Brian Jones, James Keating, Paul Kengor, David V. Meconi, S.J., Lorraine V. Murray, Fiorella De Maria, Carl E. Olson, Joseph Pearce, Edward Peters, Tracey Rowland, James V. Schall, S.J., Russell Shaw, D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D., and Jose Yulo.

Read on!

Can religion turn people into fools?

Certainly. But it's not the sort of religion most people think of as "foolish"—or as being a religion.

Should government be in the marriage-recognition business?

That's the question taken up by Mark Brumley in a new post on the Catholic World Report blog:

Some libertarians and conservatives say no. They argue that marriage is a private contract. Consequently, the state ought not to be involved with it.  Of course all sort of private contracts involve the state, but many libertarians and conservatives reject government involvement in these areas of contract, too, so they have no difficulty adding marriage to the list. 

As a private arrangement without government licensing, marriage would, on this view, not entangle the citizenry through their government in the messy business of same-sex marriage. Some libertarians and conservatives even go so far as to argue that it would be unjustly discriminatory for government to endorse one view of marriage (one man/one woman) over another (same-sex marriage or polygamous marriage).  Many, if not most, libertarians and conservatives who argue this way claim to be traditional Christians, who uphold on religious and (they would say) private grounds marriage between one man and one woman.

Those libertarians and conservatives who argue in favor of so-called privatization of marriage do not adequately consider a key point regarding it: the public interest in government encouraging couples who engage in procreative kinds of acts publically and legally to commit themselves exclusively and permanently to one another and, by implication, to their offspring, should they have any. The legal institution of marriage encourages such commitment between sexually-active heterosexual couples.

Read his entire post, "Closing Up Shop On Marriage?"

In the Footsteps of Saints: A visit to two Chinese Catholic villages

In the Footsteps of Saints | A visit to two Chinese Catholic villages | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D. | Catholic World Report

"The more we share the sufferings of Christ, the more we share in his consolation." — (2 Corinthians, 1:5)

Hebei, China, June 19, 1900. Surrounded by fields of corn, sorghum, apple trees, and cotton, two French Jesuits waited for the arrival of their executioners. Father Remi Isoré and Father Modeste Andlauer had heard that Boxers had already arrived in their small village of Wuyi, where the growing Catholic community had attracted the attention of the Fists of Righteous Harmony. The two priests decided to offer Mass rather than flee; they locked the chapel doors and began the Holy Sacrifice. As the Boxer crowd crashed through the door with their swords, the two holy priests knelt at the altar. They prayed as they were hacked to death. Their heads were displayed the next day at the village gate to warn other Christians what awaited them if they refused to denounce God, which was customarily done by performing some act of disrespect to a holy image of Christ or his Mother.

Hebei, China, July 20, 1900. More than 3,000 Chinese faithful had crowded into Zhujiahe, a tiny Catholic village on the vast flatlands of China's Zhili province, today known as Hebei. Normally the village held only 300 poor peasants, but Boxers were sweeping through northern China destroying churches and killing Catholics who refused to apostatize, and Catholic villagers from other areas had accumulated there to marshal their forces and defend themselves. By mid-morning the two Jesuit priests in the village, Father Paul Denn and Father Léon Mangin, could see the signs; it appeared that in God's providence they would all wear martyrs' crowns by the end of the day. The two exhausted priests donned their sacred vestments—stoles and chasubles—and gathered with 1,000 others into the small village church, where they prayed aloud beside the holy altar. Having killed nearly everyone outside of the church building, the Boxers and Qing troops at last pried open the chapel doors and directed a barrage of bullets into the crowd. Fearful that bullets would kill her pastor, Mary Zhu leapt in front of Father Mangin and extended her arms to form a cross. She received his bullets and fell to the floor. Exhausted from shooting, the attackers at last barricaded the church doors with mattresses soaked in kerosene and ignited the building with sorghum reed torches. The sorghum palms the villagers had planted became the martyrdom palms that ushered them into heaven—all but a handful of 3,000 Catholics were massacred that summer day at Zhujiahe village.

Hebei, China, December 9, 2011. Passing by fields of crops, village walls with nationalist slogans, and factories billowing dark smoke into the skyline, I imagined what Hebei looked like in 1900.

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My favorite music of 2011 (68 albums, but who's counting?)

Those readers who are patiently waiting for the "Best Books I Read in 2011..." post (and I hope they are countless in number), will not have to wait much longer; it will be up on Ignatius Insight tomorrow. But, first, let's strike up the band, pick a tune, and tap our toes.

Back in early August, I listed a number of new CDs that had caught my listening ear in 2011. Now I'm ready to wrap up 2011 with a listing of favorite music from the entire year, drawn from a decent-sized tub of tunes (that can expand, of course, if listeners will only   

I've already written a post about my favorite CD of the year, Burlap to Cashmere, which continues to hold that place of honor. Here are my other picks, roughly categorized by genre and according to the whims of my musician-wanna-be heart.

Jazz:

• "James Farm" by Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Matt Penman, Eric Harland. My pick for best jazz CD of the year. Redman has long been a favorite, and Parks is an astounding young pianist. Highly recommended.

• "Personalities" by Fabian Almazan. Another top jazz pick for the year. Wonderfully produced and inventive music from the young Cuban-American pianist/composer.

• "Across The Way" by Brad Shepik Quartet. Exceptional, tasteful jazz guitar that is soothing but never saccharine.

• "Songs of Mirth and Melancholy" by Branford Marsalis & Joey Calderazzo. Telepathic horn and piano duets from two of the best players (saxophone and piano, respectively) working today.

• Three Stories" by Eldar Djangirov. A piano virtuoso shows he has both artistry and technique. Sometimes a bit over the top, but always in a good way.

• "The Lost and Found" by Gretchen Parlato. Delicate, shaded singing, with artistry to spare. Her version of "Holding Back the Years" is quite stunning.

• "Caribbean Rhapsody" by James Carter. An ambitious and rousing meeting of jazz and classical. Carter's organ trio also released a new CD, which is getting good reviews, but I've not gotten to it yet.

• "Voice" by Hiromi. More dazzling, high-spirited keyboard magic by the dimunitive virtuoso.

• "Faithful" by Marcin Wasilewski. One of the finest, most erudite piano trios performing today. Lyrical purity.

• "Skala" by Mathias Eick. Another excellent ECM release, something of a Scandinavian neo-fusion album; recommended for those who claim they don't like jazz!

• "When the Heart Emerges Glistening" by Ambrose Akinmusire. A strong, expressive release by the young trumpet player.

• "Seven Seas" by Avishai Cohen. An intriguing, winsome mixture of Israeli songs and propulsive chamber jazz.

• "Bird Songs" by Joe Lovano Us Five. Lovano can play anything, and he always does so with originality and a deep respect for the tradition, in this case, the work and person of Charlie Parker.

• "'round Midnight" by Karrin Allyson. Allyson has a deft touch but her voice has just enough darkness to dig into the mournful edges of these songs. Perfect for late night listening, as the title indicates.

• "In the Moonlight" by Sophie Milman. Milman's voice is smooth and silky yet with a knowing toughness that belies her age. One of the best jazz vocalists around today. Exceptional album.

• "The Good Feeling" by Christian McBride Big Band, and "Ron Carter's Great Big Band" by (who else?) Ron Carter. Carter is one of the greatest bass players ever, having appeared on dozens of great (and several classic) releases over the past five decades. McBride is arguably the finest bass player of his generation, working in all sorts of settings since the early 1990s. Recommended for anyone who loves big bands with a modern flair.

• "Rio" by Keith Jarrett. Whereas some of Jarrett's recent live solo albums have been filled with abstract and sometimes dense, difficult workouts, this harkens back to his early '70s albums, incorporating elements of country and gospel, resulting a far more joyful, engaging album.

• "A Moment's Peace" by John Scofield. One of jazz's most versitile guitarists claimed that until recently he couldn't play ballads well or correctly. He surely can now, as this gorgeous, reflective album proves many times over.

• "Rocket Science" by Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. Who knew that jazz this fresh, wild, tight, and wide-ranging could be based around a banjo?

Singer/Songwriter/Eclectic and Sometimes Eccentric Type of Stuff:
 
• "Live At Benaroya Hall With The Seattle Symphony" by Brandi Carlile. A big voice that ranges from sweet to snarling as few can. We saw her in concert in August, and it was a raucous, grinning delight. 

• "Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars. Outstanding harmonies and songwriting from Joy Williams and John Paul White about life and love (the "civil wars" refers to romantic relationships). One of the year's best.

• "100 Lovers" by Devotchka. Balkan music meets American folk. In Denver. Often haunting, sometimes epic, and always good.

• "Spark" by Alain Johannes. A relatively short but nearly perfect album of acoustic songs that celebrate the life and mourn the death of Johannes late wife, Natasha Shneider.

• "Follow Me Down" by Sarah Jarosz. Exceptional neo-bluegrass; contains a really fine version of Radiohead's "The Tourist".

• "Hard Bargain" by Emmylou Harris. One of the most great American voices in top form in a hushed, dusky performance.

• "Love & War & The Sea In Between" by Josh Garrels. An eclectic Christian artist who avoids clichés and evades classification, with elements of folk, jazz, rock, blues, and (gasp) rap.

• "A Creature I Don't Know" by Laura Marling. A superbly-crafted sleeper by a very young English folk singer/guitarist who writes and plays well beyond her years.

• Chris Isaak, "Beyond the Sun". A spirited and downright fun homage to the early Sun records, recorded live in the famous Memphis studio where Elvis, Johnny Cash, and company made music history. 

• "Seeds We Sow" by Lindsey Buckingham. I've never been much of a fan of Fleetwood Mac, but have found Buckingham's solo work much more intriguing. This is no exception, with Buckingham's unique guitar playing and quirky, intense songwriting at the fore.

• "Ashes & Fire" by Ryan Adams. I either really like or really dislike Adams' albums. I thought his previous release, "III/IV", was shoddy and unfocused. This is a fine return to form, and Adams has never sounded better vocally.

• "Stranger Me" by Amy LaVere. Quirky. Catchy. Twangy. Strange. Did I mention quirky? Definitely file under "somewhat warped music that facilitates toe tapping and head bobbing".

• "Alela Diane & Wild Divine" by Alela Diane. Songs of longing tinged with country and folk but resisting easy classification, sung with confident understateness.


A Little Bit of Pop:

• "Best Of Vegas" by Frank Sinatra. A compilation of Sinatra from the '60s in Sin City. Do I really need to explain how good this is? No, of course not.

• "Music Is Better Then Words" by Seth MacFarlane. I never thought I'd like this album of Capitol-era Sinatra-influenced tunes by the creator of "Family Guy". I'm happy (and rather stunned) to say it is one of the best releases of the year.

• "21" by Adele. Not my usual cup of tea, but what a voice! Probably the most commercially successful album on my list, but there's no shame in that, especially when the music is this good.

• "Covers 80's" by Duncan Sheik. I was suspicious, but it works. Really well. Sheik gets to the quiet and substantive heart of hits such as "Shout" and "Hold Me Now", with revealing results.

• "LP1" by Joss Stone. A stripped down singer-songwriter-oriented album that is most agreeable, especially if you like Stone's raspy, reaching vocals as much as I do.

• "Destroyed" by Moby. His strongest, most melodic effort in several years. Featuring numerous washes of cascading synth, plenty of electronic beats, and slightly detached, icy vocals.

• "Mylo Xyloto" by Coldplay. I didn't want to like this album, especially when it features an annoying duet with Rihanna ("Princess Of China"). Yet the rest of the CD is, as my sister rightly noted, the perfect album for a long drive on open roads.

• "Ceremonies" by Florence + The Machine. The word that comes to mind is "anthemic". Big production, big vocals, big hooks. If you like big, you'll like this sophomore effort.

• "Hymns from Nineveh" by Hymns from Nineveh. This Danish group creates self-described "devotional folkpop", with songs "of longing and doom, songs of joy and despair, faith and agony". One of the best of 2011.

• "Modern Love" by Matt Nathanson. This talented singer/songwriter has more hooks than a professional fly fisher. But Nathanson songs are more than just catchy as his lyrics go above and beyond the usual fare.

Moving on to Prog and Strange Rock!

• "Grace For Drowning" by Steven Wilson. My pick for best prog album of the year. Widely acclaimed as Wilson's finest solo work, this album uses the entire sonic spectrum, from hard to soft, dark to light, pensive to anguished. Stunning.

• "Ursus" by Albatros. I can't speak to the lyrical content as I don't speak or understand Spanish, but the sound is unique (in part because of the foreign language) and fresh, driven by exceptional guitar work.

• "Weightless" by Animals As Leaders. Speaking of exceptional guitar playing, the freakishly talented Tosin Abasi has made yet another album of music that is equally hard, sophisticated, and melodic.

• "Revolu$ion" by Nemo. Adventurous, energetic French (that's right—I don't dislike everything French) prog-rock with great guitar work.

• "The Color Spectrum" by The Dear Hunter. It's difficult to classify this group, headed by Casey Crescenzo. Let's just say that it covers a lot of group: alternative, emo, progressive, pop, electronic, folk, and country. No joke. And it's all good.

• "The Ground Cries Out" by Jeff Martin. The brooding singer/guitarist, tears into new material that sounds quite a bit like his former band, The Tea Party, which is just fine by me. Think Jim Morrison meets Led Zep meets lots of Middle Eastern influences.

• "Impressions" by Lunatic Soul. An interesting change of pace by the Polish group. True to its name, this album is a collection of heavily electonic, impressionistic pieces that vary from songs to aural studies.

• "Road Salt Two" by Pain of Salvation. "Road Salt One" has some fine moments, but this is a far more cohesive and less grim outing. Daniel Gildenlöw continues to prove that is one of prog's premiere vocalists and song writers.

• "Moments From Ephemeral City" by Caligula's Horse. First, that's a great band name. Secondly, that's a good album title. Third, the music is just as inventive and attention-grabbing. Finally, the 12-minutes song "Alone in the World" is one of my favorite songs of the year. Check it out!

• "Odd Soul" by MuthMath. Still processing this release, which is a definite change of pace for this talented band. Funky, soulful, raw, and sprawling.

• "Lover's End", by Moon Safari. How, exactly, to describe the music of this Swedish group? It has elements of prog (notably, an early Yes influence), but at times sounds like the Beach Boys. The vocal harmonies are stunning, and the songs have a sunny quality that is not found in many other places.

The Good Stuff That Fits Nowhere Else:

Some of the following weren't released in 2011 (when not from 2011, I note the year). Many of these picks don't fit in the categories above. All of them have something going for them.

• "The Seven Last Words, Op.51", by Haydn, performed by the Emerson String Quartet (2004). I listen to this on a regular basis; it is one of the most sublime pieces of music ever written.

• "His Love Remains" by Collin Raye. A beautiful album of Catholic songs by a signer in top vocal form. It's to Raye's credit that the more modern hymns do not sound saccharine or tepic (as they often do at Masses).

• "Ghost On The Canvas" by Glen Campbell. The (reportedly) last album to be produced by Campbell, who is suffering from Parkinson's. A really moving, often gut-wrenching, album by one of the final pop/rock vocalists of his generation.

• "50 Words For Snow" by Kate Bush. A very muted, slow-moving, and delicate album that reveals its depths slowly. Bush has always charted her own course, and it's always worth seeing where she is and where she is going.

• "Lady & Gentlemen" by Leann Rimes. I've paid little attention to Rimes' music over the years. However, this is the sort of mature, confident country music that deserves a listen. Rimes is a stunning vocalists who not only hits the notes but inhabits the lyrics.

• "Live On I-5" by Soundgarden. Actually recorded in 1996. Grunge at its live best. Raw, sometimes dark, and powerful. But also very much anti-rock, in its own weird way, as Cornell and crew seem far more intent on attacking their fears and demons than being rock gods.

• "Songbook" by Chris Cornell. Yes, there is the voice, which is unbelievable. But here's the little secret that people are just starting to acknowledge: Cornell is one of the best songwriters and lyricists of the past twenty years. And this stripped-down set (just Cornell and a guitar) demonstrates that in spades.

• "Anna Calvi" by Anna Calvi. Think female Jeff Buckley. This is not an "on the fence" album; listeners either hate it for being supposedly pretentious and affected, or like for being audacious and, well, audacious. I'm in the latter camp.

• "Mind Bokeh" by Bibio. Electonic pop of the highest order. What? Don't think such a thing exists? It does! Neither deep or life-changing, but perfect for a summer day.

• "The Majestic Silver Strings" by Buddy Miller. If you like traditional music, this is one for you. A trip through the past with the diverse and restless guitarist/vocalist.

• "Fathers Be Kind" (EP) by Ivan & Alyosha. This folksy group from Seattle combines a bit of Beatles with a Northwest vibe, making for great singalong tunes that have a palpale sense of joy and humor.

• "A Tri-Fi Christmas" by Tri-Fi. My favorite new Christmas CD of the year, by a jazz trio that finds the perfect balance between respect for traditional songs and classy improvisation.

• "An Appalachian Christmas" by Mark O'Connor. The prolific fiddling genius (yes, he's a genius) is joined by a host of friends for a tasteful, bluegrass-flecked Christmas album.

• "That's All" by Mel Torme (1959). The more I listen to Torme, the more I'm convinced that he'll never be given his proper due. This is one of his greatest albums (which is saying something). His breezy "I've Got You Under My Skin" and the plaintive, soaring "Hang On To Me" are worth the price admission alone.

Catholic World Report's new editor introduces himself, and the new online CWR

Catholic World Report's new editor introduces himself, and the new online CWR | by Carl E. Olson

The writer of Ecclesiastes was a man who had clearly spent time contemplating the transitory yet steady nature of time and existence. "What has been is what will be," he wrote, "and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun" (Eccl. 1:9). In the parlance of our time, the more things change the more they remain the same. 

Yet change is real, even if real change is sometimes hard to define and quantify. Twenty years ago, Catholic World Report was founded in order to both report about the Catholic world and to articulate an orthodox, Catholic perspective within the world. Much has changed since then, especially in the realms of communication and technology. As a result (and to make a long story short) CWR is no longer a print magazine. There is, for all things—including magazines—"a time to be born and a time to die" (Eccl. 3:2). 

However, I'm happy to say, in keeping with my use of Ecclesiastes—a book that all scholars agree contains no direct reference to CWR or the information age—CWR has not died, or disappeared, or even taken an open-ended sabbatical. It is alive, right here and right in front of you. The news, analysis, and commentary of CWR is now entirely online. Not only that, its content is free to all readers, including those who question my use of Ecclesiastes in introducing what is somewhat new under the sun!

I say "somewhat" because while the medium has changed, the focus and purpose and goals have not. To borrow from Father David Meconi, S.J., who has just announced that Homiletic & Pastoral Review is also completely and solely online, the "what" and the "why" of CWR are the same; it is the "how" that has changed. 

CWR also has a new editor. ...

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