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The vastness of a human soul makes the universe seem so tiny and insignificant by comparison…
If something is very small, it does not follow that it is insignificant and meaningless. I enjoy watching and hearing the reactions of my students when I tell them that, if they were on the edge of our galaxy and their friend were on the other side, and if they sent a text message to their friend, the galaxy is so large that it would take 100,000 years for that message to get there. That is how big our galaxy is, and ours is only one among billions of galaxies. The awe practically drips off their faces; often it is audible. In the midst of this reaction, it is quite common for a student to then say something like this: “Wow, the universe is so huge! We are so meaningless and insignificant. Life has no meaning.” I can understand how the first statement makes sense. But the deduction of the ...
Thoughts on the lay vocation…
Over the past eighteen months, we’ve heard a great deal about the need for lay activism and lay collaboration in the management of Church affairs. I’m all for it. Such action items are, in principle, good and necessary. And also admirably American in their practical focus. But a caution: They also risk obscuring a deeper problem. The chronic, underlying illness of the Church in our country, in our day, isn’t prone to quick fixes, and real lay “power” doesn’t reside in money or professional skill or positions of influence within or over a Church bureaucracy. It proceeds from a personal witness of holiness. The abuse scandals of the past two decades are a brutal indictment of those priests and bishops who helped create the catastrophe. Nothing ...
The oldest company in every country, mapped…
While many of the companies that feature so prominently in our daily lives (Google, Apple, etc.) are relatively new, many companies around the world are pretty old — older than countries like the US, in fact — and a few of the oldest have actually been in operation for more than 1,000 years. If you want to know which companies are actually the oldest around the world, you can check out this map from Businessfinancing.co.uk, that shows the oldest company in each country that is still in business. See a full-size image of the map here. And in greater detail, here are maps that show the oldest company in each country by continent. It should be noted that the maps are not exhaustive and do not include data on every single country and that when it comes to determining what business is the ̶...
Only first-class relic of St. John Henry Newman stolen from Birmingham Oratory…
The only surviving piece of bone thought to belong to St John Henry Newman has been stolen from the Birmingham Oratory. The Oratory announced the theft in its weekly newsletter on Sunday, saying the bone fragment had been taken from its casket in the Newman Shrine. The fathers appealed for anyone who had seen any suspicious activity to come forward. Newman was buried in a cemetery in Rednal, outside Birmingham, in 1890. His grave was excavated in October 2008, but other than the small fragment of bone, no physical remains were found save for brass coffin handles and an inscription plate. A spokesman said at the time that given the damp nature of the soil, total decomposition was not surprising. Newman was eventually canonised in October last year. The incident is the latest in a spate of r...
Every life is a story (as seen in a touching video)…
When my father lay dying, I remember that one of the losses I began to grieve was that he was the keeper of so many family stories. He was the one who could look at an old family photograph, identify all the people, and tell you something about each one. As I saw him lying there, no longer able to talk much, I thought of all the memories stored up in his mind, all the stories, all the people he once knew and had spoken of so vividly. And it was not just the family stories he held; he was also a great historian and a great wellspring of the classics. He had read all of the “Great Books,” all of Shakespeare, all of Sacred Scripture, and so many other worthy writings. And he had memorized many lengthy quotes from each. Such an encyclopedic mind! He was full of vivid thoughts and vivid memorie...
Ephesians: The remarkable letter that just happens to mention husbands and wives…
By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio – articles – email ) | Feb 06, 2020 | In Scripture Series When we think of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, we tend to recall only the part which addresses one of our most practical preoccupations, the relationship between husbands and wives. In this twenty-first century after Christ, our culture regards marriage as in RUINS (Restrictive, Unnatural, Incomprehensible, Nugatory, and Senseless). We cannot avoid endless wrangling over the thirteen verses in Ephesians that deal with it. We ignore the 118 verses which precede Paul’s comments on it (1:1—5:21), along with most of the small number of verses in the conclusion which follows (cf. 6:10-20). This is a huge mistake. The whole point of the letter is to explain to the new Christians in Ephesus what it...
Jordan Peterson’s year of ‘absolute hell’ — Daughter Mikhaila gives update on his addiction and near-death in Russia …
Jordan Peterson is recovering from a severe addiction to benzodiazepine tranquilizers and was recently near death in an induced coma, his daughter Mikhaila said. He is being treated at a clinic in Russia after being repeatedly misdiagnosed at several hospitals in North America, she said. The University of Toronto psychologist who became an intellectual hero to a global audience by aligning self-help theory with anti-progressive politics was first prescribed the medication a few years ago to treat anxiety after what Mikhaila described as an autoimmune reaction to food. His physical dependence on it became apparent to his family last April, when his wife Tammy was diagnosed with cancer. The last year, which saw him retreat from public life after swiftly becoming one of the most famous author...
Negotiation tips: How to haggle like your old man…..
With our archives now 3,500+ articles deep, we’ve decided to republish a classic piece each Friday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in May 2011. This is a guest post by Tyler Tervooren of Advanced Riskology. It’s learning how to negotiate to keep both sides happy – whether it’s for a multi-million dollar contract or just which show to watch on TV, that determines the quality and enjoyment of our lives. —Leigh Steinberg My old man was a master haggler; he could strike a deal with darn near anyone for darn near anything. To say I learned a lot about making deals while growing up would be an understatement. From buying a TV at the department store to negotiating over a used car in the local classifie...
This Sunday, Catholics are still the light of the world…
By Tom Hoopes, February 6, 2020 “You are accountable not only for your own life but also for that of the entire world.” That is how St. John Christendom sums up what Jesus says in the Gospel for the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year A. Jesus calls Christians “the salt of the earth,” and “the light of the world” — showing what he respects and what he expects. Take salt, first. Food feels tasteless without it, but eating salt alone is unpleasant. Thus, as St. John Chrysostom puts it, “It is not for [a Christian] then to flatter and deal smoothly with men, but, on the contrary, to be rough and biting as salt is.” That’s why, “If salt loses its taste,” says Jesus, “it is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” And in fact we see this all around us. If eve...
How Catholics and Protestants can get along without getting it wrong…
Ecumenical optimists believe that Christians must find ways in which they agree with the other guys and build on those. Ecumenical partisans believe that Christians can’t find such agreements – not meaningful ones, anyway – and must maintain the space between themselves and the other guys. Both get it right and get it wrong, because they don’t understand how ecumenical friendships work. Catholic apologists will declare that Jesus wanted the Church to be one, but Protestants have thousands of churches (Ha!). Protestant apologists will dismiss some of Catholicism’s central dogmas with “That’s not in the Bible,” said with the confidence of someone throwing down a royal flush. Neither tries to see why the others believe what they do and think they are being faithful Christians in believing it....
5th Sunday of the Year: Pass the salt and turn on the lights…
In the Gospel today the Lord describes metaphorically what a Christian is and what He expects of us. Note five things about what God says: I. The Definitiveness of His Proclamation– The text says, You are the Salt of the earth. … You are the light of the World. … But if salt goes flat it is good for nothing. … No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. The Lord is definitive in two ways. First,He says, “You.” He is not talking just to people long ago or to the person next to you. He is not merely talking to your pastor or the Saints. He is talking to you. Youare salt. Youare light. You. It’s too easy to say, “Look at what the Lord is saying to those people long ago near the lakeside.” It’s not long ago; it’s now. It’s you. The second way that the Lord is definitive isin saying that b...
Pope’s Sunday Angelus: “Be salt, resisting sin and worldliness. Be light, proclaiming Christ in word and deed…”…
“Jesus invites us not to be afraid to live in the world, even if sometimes there are conditions of conflict and sin in it,” said Pope Francis. “Jesus at the last supper did not ask the Father to remove the disciples from the world, but to keep them from the spirit of the evil one.” Through people trafficking, “criminal organisations are increasingly using modern means of communication to entice victims through deception.” For Syria, the pontiff calls for “talks and negotiations, in accordance with international humanitarian law, to safeguard the lives and welfare of civilians.” Vatican City (AsiaNews) – In his Angelus address today, Pope Francis urged Christians to live the “presence and testimony” as “salt” and “light” in the world. “J...
