Santa Claus and the Necessity of Magic
Tony Woodlief had a wonderful reflection in the Wall Street Journal a few days back on Chesterton, Santa Claus and why believing in the “deeper magic” is necessary for Christian faith: I suspect that fairy tales and Santa Claus do prepare us to embrace the ultimate Fairy Tale, the one Lewis believed was ingrained in our being. New research from the Université de Montréal and the University of Ottawa indicates that children aren’t overly troubled upon learning that Santa is a myth. But the researchers remained puzzled because while children eventually abandon Santa, they...
Read More"Restoring clarity where there had been confusion…"
There are worse ways to mark the passing of Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ, than by taking to heart these words from an unpublished interview by John Allen: I began by explaining the gist of my project, which is to identify the most important forces shaping the future of the Catholic church over the next 100 years. Dulles did not hesitate to offer his candidate: “The internal solidification of Catholicism,” he said, a project that Dulles said began under Pope John Paul II and continues under Pope Benedict XVI. I pressed Dulles to explain what he meant. “Restoring clarity where...
Read MoreDescendit de caelis
A few months back, while going through some materials around the office, I came across a series of small books by a certain Fr. F.H. Drinkwater containing stories illustrating certain points in the Abbreviated Catechism of the Diocese of Birmingham (England). The stories themselves are charming and, on occasion, I may reprint one here (as near as I can tell the copyright on the books has expired). This story, appropriate for the season, offers an excellent lesson on the meaning of the Incarnation: There is a story of a young king in the olden days who really cared about his people, and was...
Read MoreO Antiphons
Over on his regular blog Fr. Daren has a brief explanation of the “O Antiphons” which begin today and run until Christmas. (I’ll also second “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” as my favorite Advent hymn.)
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