Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 40

Priest Holes and the Holy

My article at Imaginative Conservative website this week considers the priest’s holes which were created during the Elizabethan terror in England. If you visit Oxburgh Hall in England you can tour one of the ancient country houses occupied without break since 1482 by one of the most venerable Catholic families in England. Last summer, while [Read More...]

Ugly Churches and the Dictatorship of Populism

Soon after the plans for the new traditionally styled church in our parish were planned, I showed them with some enthusiasm to a liberal priest who happened to be visiting from England. He turned up his nose at the style and asked why we would build such  a church which was “against Vatican 2” Knowing [Read More...]

Only Priests and Deacons May Preach. Why Is That?

Following a speculative essay in an Italian paper that women should be allowed to preach at Mass there is now a conversation going on about the issue. My blog post yesterday addresses the issue. It’s not about women or men per se, but about clergy and laity. Women are not forbidden from preaching because they’re [Read More...]

Should Women Preach at Mass?

An essayist in L’Osservatore Romano– the Vatican paper–suggests that women should be allowed to preach at Mass. On Facebook, popular “Public Figure” Fr James Martin agrees. I wholeheartedly agree. Not hearing women reflecting on the Gospels at Mass impoverishes us, limits us, and prevents us from hearing the wisdom and experience of fully half of our church. I [Read More...]

Men at Church

Why does Catholic worship appeal to men? It has to do with liturgy. This is why the feminization of the liturgy is so unattractive to men. When well-meaning liturgists and priests feel they have to make everything in the liturgy emotionally relevant and “meaningful” to everyone, many men switch off. When Father Fabulous insists on [Read More...]

Does a Catholic HAVE to Vote for Hillary or Donald?

If we are faced with the choice of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as presidential candidates an increasing number of Catholics are saying, “What do I do? Both of them are awful! Do I vote with two hands–one to hold my nose? Do I have to vote? Isn’t a vote a participation in evil?” This [Read More...]

Homily Podcast – The Joy of Being Wrong

You can listen here to my homily from Our Lady of the Rosary from last Sunday – the third Sunday in Lent. In the homily I discuss self righteousness and how wrong it is to be “right” and how right it is to be wrong. Go here to listen and share.

Sin Makes You Stupid…and Violent

One of Mark Shea’s memorable (if not eloquent) quotes is “Sin Makes You Stupid.” It’s another way of echoing St Paul’s wisdom in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans 1 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their [Read More...]

Pippin and Providence

My essay for Imaginative Conservative this week focuses on Tolkien’s driving force of providence behind his plot lines. While I feel Pippin’s pain, I have confidence, because like the omniscient one, I know how Lord of the Rings ends. I can see that Pippin and Merry’s capture was no mistake. Their ordeal brings them to Fangorn to [Read More...]

Trump and the Mob: A Theological Observation

You may have seen the clip from Donald Trump’s rally where he said he wanted to punch a protester in the face. What disturbed me most about his bullying was not so much that he wanted to punch the guy, but that the crowd ate it up and roared their approval. The root problem was not [Read More...]