A Treasure To Be Shared

When challenged to prove a point, people often resort to ad hominem attacks and point fingers elsewhere simply because they feel threatened. The are unable to respond rationally, so they stomp their feet and whine and complain. Foolishness is indeed the sister of wickedness. Sophocles Courts have been weaponized to attack those who expose problematic behaviours. The news is full of harassment lawsuits, and when those claims turn out to be false, countersuits often follow in an attempt to clear the accused’s name and effect justice. People who face false accusations can be left dealing with serious anxiety, and in many cases, they struggle to return to work or recover financially. Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it. Henry David Thoreau Even the faithful can get swept up by societal pressures that push people to fight fire with fire. Until we address the current trend of childish adults using their flaws as weapons, the innocent will keep getting caught in the games play...

Pope Leo rightly sees the value of forming strategic partnerships with educational institutions. While the section in MH is fairly short, the need to counter the misuse of media and education for indoctrinating people, especially the youth, calls for a constructive and creative approach. It’s not hard to see the harmful effects of political and social influencers trying to push young people into accepting odd ideas that strip away their dignity, but undoing that damage without making things worse is tricky. What’s needed is a set of guiding principles to help educators reshape school cultures in ways that honor the basic dignity of both students and faculty. - - - ENCYCLICAL LETTER MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE An educational alliance for the digital age 139. In an era when truth is often distorted in order to serve particular interests and communication strategies, the field of education assumes...

Scripture tells us that when faced with trials, faithful Jews remembered their story and held on to their identity. Faithful Catholics know their story and retain their identity. Faithless Catholics forget their identity and attempt to manufacture limp narratives that differ little from absurd contemporary ideologies. Saint Stephen held the feet of those judging him to the fire of history and truth. And for that, he was stoned to death. Who is prepared to stand up to those who defy the law of God and accuse others of blasphemy for refusing to cooperate with deadly ideologies? In the first centuries, Romans targeted Christians who refused to burn as little as a single grain of incense to one of the pagan gods. Devotees of contemporary deities are no less determined than their ancient kin to persecute others who refuse to participate in today's dark rituals and sinister programs. In modern temples, policy is prayer, and procedure is ritual. Anyone who resists following inhumane polic...

  Host small informal home gatherings and mix in people who are well-versed in Tradition and the transcendentals -  truth, goodness, and beauty - and who can gently shape conversations toward living the Faith with integrity. Establish the Guild of Saint Stephen for altar servers at your parish. Altar servers can be the leaven that inspires reverent worship of God among parishioners.  https://www.guildofststephen.org/ Conduct Eucharistic processions (Corpus Christi, Marian processions)  to bring the light of faith into a surrounding neighbourhood, to give people permission to live the Faith and celebrate ways of living that are healthier and more beautiful than current societal norms dictate. Ensure the Sacrament of Penance is available every day, if even for only 30 minutes. Forgiveness and reconciliation gives people cause for peace and joy that spreads from one life to another. By purifying the faithful through challenging homilies and by making the Sacrament of Pe...

Various Reports Highlights - Solemnity of All Saints – Holy Mass, 1 November 2025 – Pope Leo XIV https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-11/pope-leo-newman-doctor-church-light-new-generations.html - - - Patrick Reilly: Founder and President of The Cardinal Newman Society https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/officially-declared-doctor-of-the-church-this-morning/ And now, as of this morning, we officially have a new Doctor of the Church—just two days after naming him Patron of Catholic Education! Ora pro nobis, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman! Today, my wife Rosario and I joined thousands of Catholics at All Saints Mass in St. Peter’s Square, celebrated by Pope Leo XIV. And I prayed for you and all supporters of The Cardinal Newman Society and Newman Guide Recommended education. The entire Mass was beautiful and reverent! The schola sang the hymn “Lead, Kindly Light,” with lyrics written by Newman at a time when his commitment to Christian paideia—the complete formation of students in i...

people spoke their minds in a civil manner, and those who were rude or crude were politely put in their place? people said what they meant and meant what they said? cussing was shameful? people were not afraid to greet one another by shaking hands? children were required to do daily chores? parents disciplined their children because they loved them and weren't afraid of being arrested for common sense actions like taking away the privileges of a child because of his or her disrespectful behaviour? children respected their elders by not talking back and by contributing to the support of the household by willingly doing their chores? grandchildren sat with their grandparents and learned from their stories? boys carried a pocketknife for no other purpose than for whittling a stick or carving his name in a log, or for sharpening a pencil, or for slicing up an apple for lunch? a tomboy was just an energetic and perhaps outdoorsy kind of girl that could hold her own with the boys? famili...

1. Natasha Carter [X/Twitter]: Can anyone pinpoint the exact moment when the world started to go to s**t? Dr. Edward Feser [X/Twitter]: Not one moment but a progressive slide down deeper into the sewer that has accelerated at key moments and is still going on: Ockham → Luther → Descartes and Co. → “Enlightenment” → French Revolution → Communism and Fascism → Sexual Revolution → YOU ARE HERE 2. Elise Ann Allen, Crux As his Asian trip – the longest of his pontificate – comes to a close, Pope Francis asked young people a series of questions about what youth do, eliciting answers such as “proclaim Christ,” “proclaim the Word of God” and “love.”  Then, in an entirely off-the-cuff speech, Francis told them to also never forget to “wreak havoc, make a mess.”  He applauded the high number of youths in the country and said, “I will never forget your smile.  Don’t stop smiling.” Comment . One could be forgiven for sighing heavily at the words "wreak havoc, make a mess."  Bad a...

... you rarely (if ever) hear the following phrases. "Party like it's A.D. 1570!" "We should sing more plainchant at this parish." "I'd like to thank the choir for their sublime rendition of the Mass For Five Voices by William Byrd." "I just love the way the four torchbearers process in with such dignity." "People treat the Host like a snack. I think it's time we went back to communion on the tongue." "My entire family goes to Confession every week." "We need a central Tabernacle on the altar." "The altar servers' lace cottas are so beautiful." "I just love Father Steve's sermons about the Real Presence and living a Eucharistic life." "People are leaving in droves for Saint Pius X Parish and the reverent Mass there. Do you think we're doing something wrong here at Harvey Milk Parish?" "I'm thrilled that the design for the new church includes a choir loft....

Mortality Half our dayes wee passe in the shadowe of the earth, and the brother of death exacteth a third part of our lives. A good part of our sleepes is peeced out with visions, and phantasticall objects wherin wee are confessedly deceaved. The day supplyeth us with truths, the night with fictions and falsehoods, which uncomfortably divide the natural account of our beings. And therefore having passed the day in sober labours and rationall enquiries of truth, wee are fayne to betake ourselves unto such a state of being, wherin the soberest heads have acted all the monstrosities of melancholy, and which unto open eyes are no better then folly and madnesse. https://thelampmagazine.com/blog/how-to-write-english-prose Sin The allegations were shocking. Jean Vanier, the son of a former governor general and a man regarded as saintly for his work with people with intellectual disabilities, was accused of sexual abuse. Now, nearly three years later, an exhaustive independent report says Vani...

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men. Goodwill is rarely practiced when needed most. A conversation with a good friend the other day, a dedicated public school teacher with several advanced degrees and a long successful career in teaching at both the grade school and college levels, confirmed that rather than good intentions being assumed, the opposite is true. Parents, often indifferent or unwilling to provide their children with a sense of virtue and self discipline, too easily assume a teacher is at fault when their children's behaviour, most often a mirror and predictor of home life, is questioned and challenged. In the workplace and the classroom, as much in the public square and on or in social media, rational debate is becoming exceedingly rare. Conflict is catastrophic rather than an opportunity to stretch understanding and to achieve consensus. The terms by which people are forced to operate - conditions introduced by people seized by a pathol...

H/T Anglican Ordinariate Forum http://www.brookstone-tx.com/client/our-lady-of-walsingham-new-education-building/ This... ...will eventually become this ... . Praise be to God!

For Teachers in Schools (BCP) GRANT, we beseech thee, O heavenly Father, to all who teach in our schools, the spirit of wisdom and grace, that they may lead their pupils to reverence truth, desire goodness, and rejoice in beauty; so that all may come to know and worship thee, the giver of all that is good; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  

There should be no unity with iniquity. ... Yes, we should strive for unity, but our unity should be based on the truths of our faith as found in Sacred Scripture and the constant Tradition of the Church. No one should want to be united on the path to perdition. - Bishop Thomas Paprocki (T)o consent to the conception of a new being, through one’s own actions, is to make oneself responsible for an undertaking of nurturing and educating that child, which reaches at least 20 years into the future.  Since we cannot know the future, such an undertaking is reasonable only if it is regarded as a joint undertaking with someone who does know that future, that is, if we regard it as done with the approval and blessing of God in his providence. That is to say, for a father to conceive a child in openness to life, is for him to place himself under God: he recognizes himself as a subsidiary source of life and, therefore, since he has become a subsidiary agent, he enjoys a subsidiary author...

I am afraid that many baptized Catholics do not take the Eucharist seriously because they do not take sin seriously, and this is largely the fault of bad catechesis overseen by me and my brother bishops for far too long. When the Eucharist is treated casually in our liturgy, minimized in the confessional or ignored in homilies, then we should not be surprised by confusion regarding its sacredness. This is ultimately another failure in charity. Genuine charity is always filled with compassion, gentleness and truth. To love our neighbor is to desire for them to live in the sublime truth of the Mass and the real presence of our Lord. In this respect, the ministers of the faith have, perhaps, the greater responsibility for improper reception of the Eucharist. - Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila.  https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/04/14/aquila-denver-eucharist-politicians-teaching-240396 There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others. - Saint John Chrysosto...

In order for a new year or next year to be a good year or a better year, it is necessary to confront the inadequacies of the former calendar. That is, it is necessary to confront our own deficiencies and those obstacles we encountered around us. We must, to the best of our ability, and cautious not to descend into a haphazard and unfair critique - i.e., the nuclear option - and cognizant of the planks in our own eyes, proceed into the wilderness relying on the Church's guidance, the guidance of faithful pastors and the witness of the saints whose teaching disposes us to the influence of the Holy Ghost. Looking back for a moment, the Gospel according to St Matthew for the Second Sunday in Advent (2019) read in part (3:1-3): In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye ...

Grin & Bear It Polar bears - thought to be a diminishing species, are managing better than we have been led to believe, at least according to an eminent scholar recently fired from her position at the University of Victoria. A " world-renowned expert in animal bone identification" claims she "lost her position at the University of Victoria (UVic), she believes for telling school kids politically incorrect facts about polar bears." https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/was-this-zoologist-punished-for-telling-school-kids-politically-incorrect-facts-about-polar-bears A More Apt Acronym? Depending on who you talk to, Appointment Reappointment Promotion and Tenure (ARPT) committees - or is that TRAP committees? -  can behave like a pack of wild dogs or devoted Labrador Retrievers. They can do great good and may help create outstanding university departments, or they can be quite prone to dysfunction that leads to mediocrity or mayhem. Bear N...

Our Lady of The Atonement Ordinariate Roman Catholic Parish In omnibus glorificetur Deus! In all things may God be glorified! Ever wonder what excellence (...and truth and goodness and beauty...) looks like on paper? Our Lady of the Atonement, a real life miracle story , has posted positions including Music Director and Assistant Music Director. Note the Minimum Qualifications section a required expertise is the Ward Method . Amen! May it be said - every parish should strive to be like Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio  Parish, Texas, USA. Ora et labora! https://ourladyoftheatonement.org/career-opportunities Click on Images to Enlarge or Click on Links above.