Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 5

What Shall We Make of the Weeping Madonna?

The Washington Post reports here about a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that is weeping perfumed olive oil. The image is a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe–itself a miraculous image that is venerated in Mexico. As usual, Catholics take a common sense view of such phenomena. We are encouraged to look for all […]

The Trump Blimp and the Roots of Rage

I watched with curiosity the big protest against Trump in London this week. As regular readers will know, I’m not a big fan of Mr Trump, however what we saw in London really had very little to do with Donald Trump. Something else was going on which was much more interesting that Trump, a blimp […]

Understanding Donald Trump

From the beginning I expressed my personal dislike of Donald Trump, and some right wing websites have even branded me a “Never Trumper”. I still don’t like the man, but I think he’s made some good decisions. Time will tell whether his legacy is a good one, or whether he crashes and burns. Putting aside […]

Humanity’s Heroic Cave Rescue

Through the marvels of modern technology the whole world is watching the cave rescue in Thailand. I am as caught up in the story as many others, and I got to pondering why the story is so captivating for millions. Of course there are the obvious reasons. Every parent is on tenterhooks as we would […]

Does a Supreme Court Justice’s Religion Matter?

Amy Coney Barrett is a Catholic. Not what we might call a Kennedy Catholic or a Pelosi Catholic or a Joe Biden Catholic who support gay marriage and abortion and who knows what else. She’s a committed, conservative practicing Catholic. She’s got seven kids–five of her own and two adopted from Haiti. When she was […]

Will a Refreshed Supreme Court Ban Abortion?

Abortion advocates are alarmed that, with the replacement of Justice Anthony Kennedy the Supreme Court will lurch to the right and the constant challenges to abortion from the states will be approved, abortion will continue to be restricted and perhaps the historic Roe v Wade decision will be overturned, opening the way for abortion to […]

Could a Catholic Bake a Cake for a Gay Wedding?

There is an interesting angle to the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of the Colorado baker who declined to provide a wedding cake for the wedding of a same sex couple. I believe he made the same case that was brought out in a similar story of the florist who declined to provide flowers for a […]

How RFK Got a Rosary as He Lay Dying

I found this story from Fox News fascinating. The seventeen year old Hispanic busboy who knelt over Bobbie Kennedy’s body that summer evening fifty years ago has a story to tell. “I could feel a steady stream of blood coming through my fingers,” Romero reportedly said. “I remember I had a rosary in my shirt […]

I’ll Fly Away Oh Glory…in a brand new jet…

CNN reports about prosperity pastor Jesse Duplantis who want the faithful to cough up $54m for a new jet. It’s all very easy to jump on the band wagon and condemn Pastor Jesse for wanting a new jet and for preaching the prosperity gospel, but what is the big deal? We should realize that Jesse […]

Boy Scouts and the Banishment of Boys

My sons go to a camp in North Carolina every summer. This is an old fashioned kind of camp where the boys and girls are segregated. The guys sleep in lumpy bunks in basic cabins, get up early to swim in the turtle infested lake, run around half clad like wild men, and spend the […]