Last week’s musical selection was “The Heavens are Telling” from Joseph Haydn’s masterpiece, an oratorio called The Creation. There are three parts to the oratorio as a whole. The first part deals with the creation of the heavens and earth, and inanimate things such as light, water, land and plants.The subject of the second part … Continue reading A Musical Evocation of Chaos by Joseph Haydn
Newspeak and the Word of God
If you want to change the Church, if you want to change the beliefs that have animated Christians for two millennia, you need to take away the concrete images, the traditional words, and the familiar actions that embody the traditional understanding of the faith.
A Sin is a Sin: St. Thomas and Conscience
"What is truth?" I seem to remember someone raising the question somewhere. For the idealogue, "truth" is whatever promotes the ideology, and if it happens to correspond with reality that's fine; if it doesn't, no problem, we'll make something up. Followers of Him who is "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" (John 14:6) know better . . … Continue reading A Sin is a Sin: St. Thomas and Conscience
Sacred Music With an Edge – “The Heavens Are Telling” from Haydn’s The Creation
Do you want to talk about living on the edge? "Few composers can boast on their curricula vitae," wrote R.J. Stove in Catholic World Report a few years ago, "a deliberate and successful avoidance of gelding. Haydn could." Indeed he could: it was only through the timely and forceful intervention of his father that … Continue reading Sacred Music With an Edge – “The Heavens Are Telling” from Haydn’s The Creation
“Choice” and the Father of Lies
Truth is the mortal enemy of Sin. There is nothing sin hates and fears more than the truth. Few issues illustrate that reality as starkly as abortion. In Roe v. Wade the court sacrificed the Truth of Human Life to the Untrammelled Human Will.
I Show You The Times: The Truth v. The Narrative
Ultimately, it comes down to a matter of truth. Our Lord tells us "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much." (Luke 16:10) How can we hope to be faithful to Him Who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6) if we're not faithful to the ordinary everyday truths?
The Drama of Salvation: Agnus Dei from Mozart’s Coronation Mass
Catholic Christianity has been blessed with a vast array of artists of every sort whose manifold talents have brought glory to God. There are poets as different as Dante Alighieri and Gerard Manley Hopkins, we have Carravaggios and Michelaengelos in the visual arts, and there are a whole list of Catholic composers including Monteverde, … Continue reading The Drama of Salvation: Agnus Dei from Mozart’s Coronation Mass
Rights, Solidarity, and the Truth
. . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:32) I'll bet you're tired of talking about COVID. I certainly am. The curious little virus (SARS-CoV-2) from Wuhan (or, more accurately, our reactions to it) has tyrannized not just conversation but public life for almost two years now, … Continue reading Rights, Solidarity, and the Truth
Forget the Tech Tyrants: Our Hope is in The Lord (One Year Later)
One year ago I started this blog, Spes in Domino, in large part because I felt the need for independent voices, even small, insignificant voices like mine, to provide some alternative to the increasingly totalitarian dominance of tech giants such as Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Google. I had previously run two blogs on Blogger, but hadn't … Continue reading Forget the Tech Tyrants: Our Hope is in The Lord (One Year Later)
The Baptism of the Lord: the Mission Begins
We welcomed our Lord at Christmas and now, as he takes up his mission, our mission is to follow him, that all righteousness may be fulfilled.