Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 105

Is There a Split in the Catholic Church?

Some time ago a priest friend I’ll call Tony was discussing the problems he was having with some colleagues and parishioners. Whenever he had an idea or tried to get something going he met resistance. It wasn’t that his people and fellow priests didn’t like him. It wasn’t that they were angry, rebellious or ugly. [Read More...]

Prepare Now for a Holy Lent

Lent is just around the corner. Have you made any preparations yet? In our parish we are not having extra services, Bible studies, meetings and stuff to do. Instead we are using new and old media to provide our people with a plethora of good materials so they can make their own Lent holy. St [Read More...]

Pope Francis – Apocalypse Now?

Pope Francis remains an exciting enigma for many. Some find him maddening while others find him enlightening and others are simply confused. My article for Aleteia this week gives the key to understanding Pope Francis. It opens the door to his world vision and this underlying perspective influences all that he says and does. Pope [Read More...]

You Are Not Your Mood

From the Big Red Book: If I were asked to give  young man or woman a bit of advice taking only a minute or two it would run as follows: Try to regard your states of mind as visits to places. “Now I am in the angry place or the melancholy place or the misunderstood- [Read More...]

On Luxury Cars, Simplicity of Life and Francis the Pope

As a Catholic priest I am bound to observe Canon 282 in the Code of Canon Law which states “Clerics are to foster simplicity of life and are to refrain from all things that have a semblance of vanity.” The problem is, I am shopping for a new car since my 2007 Volvo S60 was [Read More...]

Get Slubgrip!

The special pre-publication offer of my Lent book Slubgrip Instructs only lasts for the month of January. The pre publication price on my website here is $14.95 plus $3.00 p+p Amazon price is $16.61. February first the website price will be $16.50 so with shipping it will remain about the same price as Amazon. The [Read More...]

Church of England? What’s That?

View image | gettyimages.com With the ordination of Libby Lane as the first female bishop in the Church of England we finally have closure over the vexed question of the identity of the Anglican Church. Since the Oxford Movement in the nineteenth century members of the Church of England have tried to claim that the [Read More...]

Frodo for Pope?

  Sometime ago I wrote a blog post entitled “Frodo for Pope”. I didn’t know it would all come true one day. On a serious note, why not take time to read my essay, The Little Way Through Middle Earth? It pulls out the Catholicism of Lord of the Rings and links it to St Therese. [Read More...]

In Which Your Blogger’s Car is Totaled…

…and he contemplates his mortality and materialistic mindset. I was heading over the church to hear confessions in my seven year old much loved Volvo. There was a traffic jam and tailback, so I eased down and joined the queue. Looking in my mirror I see a jalopy of an old Ford Bronco bearing down [Read More...]

Weapons for Battling Lucifer in Lent

Lent is coming up and I’m finally getting down to Paul Thigpen’s excellent Manual for Spiritual Warfare. This little book is the best I’ve found on the subject. Paul launches into the subject of spiritual warfare with clear explanations, solid research and simple language. This is an area where both cynicism, sensationalism and superstition usually [Read More...]