Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 214

Church, Cults and Common Sense

Last June I wrote this post on cult-like behaviors in society and within religious groups. One of the reasons I appreciate the Catholic hierarchical infrastructure of diocese and parish is that we are thrown together as a family with people and leadership that we would not necessarily choose. This is difficult because I naturally want [Read More...]

So Who’s Rich?

Today’s gospel readings exhort us to learn humility by helping the poor, but that raises the question “who is poor and who is rich?” Are you poor because you don’t have a high income? Maybe a person with a low income but no debt is richer than a person with a high income who is [Read More...]

A Choice Selection

Whooee! The post on Voris stirred up that hornet’s nest. To be fair, most of the comments were rational and a there was what I like to call ‘a frank exchange of views’. However there was a fair bit of poison too. Here is a selection of  the juicier contributions to my combox from Michael [Read More...]

Do We Need Michael Voris?

Until now I have kept mum about the controversial self appointed prophet Michael Voris. However, yesterday I viewed his latest video in which he ‘exposes’ the salaries of people he disparagingly calls ‘professional Catholics.’ He calls out Catholic radio host Al Kresta, author and founder of the apologetics apostolate Karl Keating and his employees Tim [Read More...]

A Theist or Atheist?

HuffPo reports that an atheist in New Jersey has succeeded in getting a license plate that reads ATHE 1ST. The problem is the statement is ambiguous. What if I read it and conclude that the driver is… A theist? That’s the problem with atheists…they haven’t thought of all the possibilities. Their advertising stunts are so [Read More...]

Bl. Dominic Barberi

Today is the Memorial of Blessed Dominic Barberi--the saintly priest who received Newman into the Church. Here is a Newman’s account of the event: At the height of his struggle over his conversion, Newman had written: “If they want to convert England, let them go barefoot into our manufacturing towns, let them preach to the [Read More...]

Joel Osteen and Pope Francis

Joel Osteen the prosperity preacher from Houston has just moved up from his $2m mansion to a $10m mansion. Here’s the news. This is one of the things that tickle me about American Protestantism. These are the folks who have traditionally beat the Catholics with a big stick about the Pope living in a palace [Read More...]

Sisters in Crisis

A new edition of Ann Carey’s book gives an update on the crisis in women’s religious orders in the USA. This professionally researched and meticulous book will remain a historical resource for all those who wish to understand how in the space of forty years an army of faithful Catholic sisters ended up as new [Read More...]

Tolkien’s ‘No’ to Narnia

If I had a time machine that could not only set me down not only in a particular date, but a particular place, I’d choose the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford on a Tuesday night in 1950 when C.S.Lewis was reading selections from his Chronicles of Narnia. He’d be there before a roaring fire [Read More...]

The Joy of Repentance

We celebrate this week the life of that most famous of sinner-saints, St Augustine, who said, “Lord make me chaste, but not yet.” Augustine’s lust for love and his desire for God are tied together with his passionate approach to life. “Love is the beauty of the soul!” he cries. What Augustine teaches us is [Read More...]