Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 16

Standing “Rad Trad” on its Head

Over the last few years “rad trad” or “raddy traddy” was Catholic slang for the ultra traditionalist, Latin Mass, take no prisoners traditionalist. I like the rhyme, but I’m for standing this on its head. Let’s take “radical” and “tradition” and recognize something that is cool and constant in being a Catholic, and that is [Read More...]

10 Common Cons of Satan

Satan is the Father of lies. Therefore it follows that one of his favorite tricks is to separate us from reality. He’s like that stage magician who uses distraction to keep you from seeing what is really going on. He pulls a trick to turn our attention away from reality. What is “reality”? Reality is [Read More...]

Critiquing Cotton Candy Catholicism

One of the advantages of being a Catholic is that, if you go to Mass regularly, you will hear so much of Sacred Scripture being read. This is also one of the disadvantages. It is not a disadvantage because you hear Sacred Scripture, but because you hear it in small chunks. What is lacking in [Read More...]

Lewis, Tolkien, Art and the Sacraments

I posted quip on Facebook a few days ago: “Protestants have no art because they have no sacraments. Discuss.” A lively discussion then ensued. Unfortunately most commenters missed my point. They either gave me examples of Protestants who were artists or they tried to explain that Protestants really do have at least a couple of [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...]

Does the Catholic Church Need to be Reformed?

There is constant talk about Pope Francis being a “reformer” and it is assumed without anyone challenging the idea, that the Vatican  (and by extension the whole Catholic Church) is desperately in need of being reformed. But what does this call for “reform” really mean? Everybody has their own idea, but I get the feeling [Read More...]

Spadaro, Straw Men and Scapegoats

When will these people learn that not all conservatives are Wal-Mart shoppers with a gun rack in their pick up?

From My Side of the Screen

Let me tell you something from my side of the confessional screen. Hearing confessions is not easy. Its actually hard, often tiresome work. Often the confessions are poorly prepared, badly informed or fully of all the tricks we’ve come to spot which allow people to confess while still retaining their dignity. You know the euphemisms, [Read More...]

On European Ignorance and Arrogance

There are few things more frustrating than ignorance and arrogance combined. I lived in England for twenty five years, and I’ve lived in America for about thirty. I can tell you from experience that an awful lot of Americans are pretty darned ignorant. This is not to say they are stupid. Its to observe that [Read More...]

Falling Short of God’s Glory

Some time ago I got an anonymous email which said something like, “Get over the idea that there is such a thing as sin. Sin is a stupid idea made up by religious people like you to fleece people of their money and scare them about hell. People like you are evil and wicked and [Read More...]