“When we work from silence, we teach silence”: Applying Cardinal Sarah’s The Power of Silence to the creative life.
art
The Holier the Artist, the Better the Art
The holier the artist, the better the art. The better the art, the holier the artist. This is a controversial statement. Certainly the evidence stands against it. Many great poets, writers, visual artists, musicians, and actors were also great sinners. And many holy people were terrible artists. Art is not a strictly moral activity, which John Paul II acknowledges in […]
Our Call in the Calling of Saint Matthew
“Who am I in the painting? How will I respond?” In today’s Gospel, we have a short account of Jesus’ call of Matthew by the man himself. He only spends a few verses on what was the pivotal moment of his life. He mentions simply that he was a tax collector, and that Jesus called him out of his daily […]
The Nature of Music and the Soul
The Nature of Music and the Soul by Matthew Cole Austin and Steven Jonathan Rummelsburg “…when lawlessness has established itself there [in music and poetry], it flows over little by little into character and ways of life.” Plato, Republic 424d # # # The world is changing and we have become progressively desensitized to the increasing temptations available to us […]
The Nature of Music and the Soul
The Nature of Music and the Soul by Matthew Cole Austin and Steven Jonathan Rummelsburg “…when lawlessness has established itself there [in music and poetry], it flows over little by little into character and ways of life.” Plato, Republic 424d # # # The world is changing and we have become progressively desensitized to the increasing temptations available to us […]
Four Helpful Tips for When You Find the Rosary Difficult
My guardian angel has prayed more rosaries than I have. There’s a pious saying that if you fall asleep while praying your prayers, your guardian angel finishes them. Well, for many years, I knew I should be saying a daily rosary, but I thought if I started the Creed as my head hit the pillow at night, I could at […]
The Art of Catholic Charity
The Gospel in the Secular Culture I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like art, and really, what’s not to like? Art, in all of its forms, inspires us and expresses who we are as a society, as a culture. Recently, a priest friend of ours shared some of his artwork with us. They were extraordinarily beautiful depictions of saints who […]
The Church: Unlocking the Secrets to the Places Catholics Call Home
“If we help you to read a church, we do it with the hope that you’ll be better able to pray a church. If you want to understand a church, you need to read it as a prayer book and not as an architecture textbook.” –Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Mike Aquilina, authors of The Church: Unlocking the Secrets to the […]
Pilgrimage
Let’s Regroup Sometimes when you find yourself on your heels fighting a tough battle, it’s best to step back, regroup and join forces with your allies. We are in that situation now, as our very way of life – indeed, the very meaning of who we are as women and men – is under attack. We need to regroup, and […]
Daily Quote from Evelyn Waugh
“Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: to construct and to refrain from destruction.” (Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh) Print this entry