“The Golden Compass”

Pr. Greg Brothers has some thoughts.  The Golden Compass is, he suggests,
essentially Paradise Lost retold from the view of Satan (as channeled by Jean-Jacque Rosseau), i.e. God is a senile pretender and any rebellion against Him is a Very Good Thing.
He enjoyed the first book, but never could force himself to finish the other two–they [...]

Caught

Catholic blogger Rocco Palmo has had his hand slapped by the Houston Chronicle for pilfering their photos without permission.

12 Days of Christmas

Memo
To: radio station managers, sales managers, newspaper reporters, and whoever else.
Re: 12 Days of Christmas
Please note: The 12 Days of Christmas are December 25-January 5. Not December 6-21, not December 12-24, not any other combination of days I’ve seen in ads and promos.
We are not in the Christmas season now. As of this weekend, we [...]

Giuliani’s Pedophile Priest Pal

Andrew Sullivan draws attention (again) to a member of the Giuliani camp who the mainstream media is continuing to ignore–Msgr. Alan Placa. He links to a commentary by Deal Hudson (and an update from Deal).
Since 2002, Msgr. Alan Placa has worked for Rudy Giuliani as a consultant at Giuliani Partners. In 2003 a grand jury [...]

Ten Gallon (Red) Hat

Smiley Pool of the Houston Chronicle has a picture of a hat given to Cardinardo by Fr. David Noble–a red cowboy hat with tassles. You’ve got to know David to really appreciate this. He and his twin brother, Bruce, are Aussies; David is a hospital chaplain, as was Bruce, before being named pastor of Our [...]

An Evangelical Perspective on Mary

J. I. Packer, Mary: Mother and Disciple of Christ Jesus the Lord, at First Things.
This essay is a plain Bible study focusing on the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel (the annunciation, Elizabeth’s welcome, Mary’s song, the birth narrative, the circumcision narrative, and Jesus in the Temple at age 12), plus Luke 8:19–21 (Jesus’ spiritual [...]

Buying Your Own Gifts

My daughter went to the mall the other day with a friend; before she left, she asked me for money so that she could get me a birthday present. Nothing like having to pay for your own gifts.
That’s what the cardinals experienced in Rome. They had to buy the biretta and zucchetto they received from [...]