Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 189

Christian or Catholic Cult?

Soon after I converted to the Catholic faith a dear old Dominican sister gave me a word of advice, “I think it is generally a good idea,” she said, “to not refer to yourself any longer as a ‘Christian’ but use ‘Catholic’” I was rather flabbergasted by her suggestion since to my mind in becoming [Read More...]

Catholic Garage Churches

In a sleepless moment the other night I found myself discovering the world of Catholic garage churches. A garage church is a church somebody has in their garage. Within the Anglican cosmos I was always fascinated by the umpteen little Anglican churches that you could find lurking in various out of the way places. I [Read More...]

Pagans a Pope and the Fall of Sauron

Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative website in which we discover the links between the New Year, Julius Caesar, Pope Gregory XIII and Frodo the Great… The earliest records of a New Year celebration are from Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. Then about the time of Father Abraham, the new year was heralded [Read More...]

The World’s Danger

  I saw a stable low and very bare A little child in a manger The oxen knew him, had him in their care To men he was a stranger. The safety of the world was lying there And the world’s danger.   – Mary Coleridge

In the Bleak Mid Winter

Here’s my favorite Christmas Carol–the setting by Harold Darke is especially haunting. I was so lucky to be a chaplain at Kings College, Cambridge for three years. I worked with the boys at the choir school, attended chapel every day and soaked up the beautiful music, architecture and tradition. Very happy memories, and this carol [Read More...]

What’s Wrong With Santa?

Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative…What’s Wrong With Santa? My proposal is that there is nothing wrong with Santa as long as he is kept in his place. Despite the tacky artwork–his place is secondary to Christ the Infant King. The most extreme form of anti-Santa preaching is the frightening realization that [Read More...]

Dorothy Day: Is Religion the Opium of the People?

Reading Paul Elie’s excellent quadruple biography of Thomas Merton, Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy and Dorothy Day. The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage is a wonderful book about these four American writers at a crucial time in America’s history. While living in England I was busy reading English contemporary Catholic-Anglican writers: Lewis, [Read More...]

St Joseph and Bilbo Baggins

I’m grateful to the Holy Spirit for sending inspiration for homilies from the most unlikely places. I was reading Devin Brown’s delightful little book, Hobbit Lessons: A Map for Life’s Unexpected Journeys which teaches simple life lessons from Bilbo’s unexpected journey. Bilbo follows the classic hero’s quest. He’s in his ordinary world–which is a snug, safe and [Read More...]

Pope Francis Ponders Women Priests

Here is my latest article for Aleteia which springboards from Pope Francis’ recent bewilderment over the suggestion of having women cardinals in the church. He’s quite clear that it’s not a possibility and this article summarizes the arguments for and against women priests and explains the church’s position. Pope Francis’s take on the subject is [Read More...]

Hell? Don’t Yell.

In my recent post admiring and recommending Ralph Martin’s book The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call  I mentioned that universalism was a cancer eating away at the church and reminding readers that the Scriptures are clear that hell is a reality and it is likely to be highly populated. Some objections came [Read More...]