Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 101

A Close Shave in the Vatican

This week sees a new and creative initiative by Pope Francis to help the homeless. Folks who are down on their luck can get a shower, shave and a haircut within the precincts of St Peter’s Square. Catholic News Agency reports here Officially inaugurated on Feb. 16, the facilities provide the opportunity for homeless individuals [Read More...]

The Apocalypse of Modern Martyrdom

After the brutal murder of twenty one Coptic Christians we have to look again at martyrdom. This is not long ago and far away. It is here. It is now. It is on your screen. John Allen’s excellent The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution explores the world wide phenomenon [Read More...]

Want to Understand ISIS?

Graeme Wood writes the best analysis and description of the horror of ISIS here at The Atlantic. He goes into detail about the roots of ISIS, its relationship to mainstream Islam and the ambitions of the Caliphate. He explains how ISIS combines not only a horribly literalistic interpretation of the Koran, but also how it is interlaced [Read More...]

Huge Lent Resource

  Lent is here and I’ll bet you haven’t made any preparations yet. If so, the new media offers instant answers. Much of the material is free If you’re looking for online resources for Lent, Aggie Catholics have their annual Lent mega post here Don’t forget you can still sign up for Dynamic Catholic’s free [Read More...]

ISIS Is Itching for a New Crusade- What Should We Do?

It is time for the West to wake up to the religious dimension of the ISIS horror. The barbarians who have decapitated twenty one prisoners in Libya were completely clear in the religious motivation for their crime. They chose Christians from the ancient Coptic church of Egypt and they murdered the men in cold blood. [Read More...]

Messiaen and Eliot: Music and Poetry in Wartime

This week’s article for the Imaginative Conservative explores two remarkable pieces of art: T.S.Eliot’s Four Quartets and Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time Messiaen’s music, like Eliot’s poetry, requires hard work. At first it is disturbingly modern, distasteful, and difficult. On second and third listening things come clear, and a beauty that was hidden in harshness comes [Read More...]

Benedict and Francis: A Two Headed Papacy

Elizabeth Scalia is very good here in her analysis of Pope Francis. She says Benedict is an anchor to Francis. The two pope complement one another. And ​now, Benedict is very much an anchor for Francis — who would not even be sitting as Peter, had Benedict not read the times and realized that no [Read More...]

Do Christians Believe in Talking Snakes?

You know how the story goes: in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve have a conversation with the serpent. Does this mean Christians believe in talking snakes? That’s the charge from certain atheists. I think this rather puerile remark comes from the fact that most of the atheists in question have probably experienced a few [Read More...]

Miserable Un Musical Catholics

Russel Saltzman is another Lutheran coming into the Catholic Church and finding the transition to be painful. Like most of us from the Anglican and Lutheran traditions he is aghast at the poor quality of music in Catholic parishes. Furthermore he looks around and instead of joyfully singing Christians he sees dour expressions, arms crossed [Read More...]

Are You Scared of Friday 13?

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Whatzat?? Driving to the office this morning I witnessed a bad car wreck. Driver came off the road into a power pole, brining it down, ruining the car and ending up in the ditch. I immediately thought, “Yikes. It’s unlucky Friday thirteenth for that guy!” Then I put the thought away. Stupid to be [Read More...]