Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 143

Meriam Ibrahim and the Obamas

Here is a strange situation. Michelle Obama and her husband have championed the rights of the poor, taken the side of African Americans and profess to be Christians, but on the case of Meriam Ibrahim they have been silent. What gives? My article for Aleteia on Meriam as an icon of Christian suffering is here. [Read More...]

Joseph Pearce on the Muslim Threat

Englishman Joseph Pearce writes here about the threat of militant Islam in Europe. There is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe which nobody wants to talk about,” he continued, “that we daren’t bring up because we are so cagey about not offending people racially. And rightly we should be. But there is a cultural thing [Read More...]

Thundering Through With St James

Here is my latest article for Catholic Exchange. It’s unlocks an interesting detail about St James and the dating of the New Testament. Bible scholars piece together details of evidence to build up a full picture of the New Testament authorship and dates. Their work is like that of a detective—picking up a hint here and [Read More...]

I’m Outta Here

My vacation happens to coincide with a Patheos update so while the techies are doing their thing for the next few days I’m outta here. I’ll be in the mountains enjoying the scenery and relaxing on the porch. I’ll not be blogging or moderating comments. See you on Saturday.

Coming Up: An Ecumenism of Blood

Pope Francis has appointed Enzo Bianchi the prior of the new ecumenical monastic community of Bose in Italy to join the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. For those who are unfamiliar, the community of Bose is one of the new ecclesial movements in the church. Like the community at Taize, it is composed of both [Read More...]

Brideshead Re-Visited Re-Visited

On vacation I had indulged myself and watched the entire Granada TV version of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Re-Visited.  What a lush show! It really is the most splendid and faithful literary film adaption ever made. With perfect casting, a top notch book – film script adaptation, beautiful and authentic scenery and excellent acting, it is absorbing [Read More...]

Watch Out For the Weeds

A detail from tomorrow’s reading at Mass will be missed by many people because of the translation of “tares” as “weeds”. Most people don’t know that this particular kind of weed called “tares” actually looks just like wheat. When they are first growing together they are both green and they are very hard to tell [Read More...]

Explaining Transubstantiation

I’m often surprised at the number of good, faithful Catholics who are well informed about their faith, who do not understand the doctrine of transubstantiation. In my experience they fall into two categories. The first do not believe the Eucharist is anything more than a symbol. The second believe the bread and wine become the [Read More...]

The Curse of Adolescent Progressivism

I was reminded this week of one of Pope Francis’ most memorable homilies from  last November in which he warned of “adolescent progressivism. There is a good report on the homily here. ” In the long run that phrase will become one of his memorable “one liners” which holds hands with Benedict XVI’s warning about [Read More...]

Pope Francis the Devil and the End Times

Russell Shaw writes here at OSV online about Pope Francis’ clear teaching about Satan, the anti-Christ and the End Times. It’s a good article because it shows how Francis steers through the maze of private revelations, hysteria about “false prophets” and the anti Christ and manages to encourage the faithful while also encourages us to [Read More...]