When one of my sisters phoned the other day, we got to talking about the church in which we grew up.
We were raised high-church Episcopalian. When you went to church there was no other place it could possibly be and nothing but worship could have possibly been going on. As the priest consecrated the body and blood for communion, he — yes, he — faced the altar and crucifix. We received communion on the tongue while we knelt at the communion rail. The lay readers — those who read the Epistle at each service — were enrobed, as were we acolytes.
Father Mark spoke matter-of-factly, perhaps with just a touch of resignation. “Oh, I’ll probably die young,” he said. “My father died when he was 43. Cardiac.”
Tonight, I can’t stop thinking, this isn’t the way. A third assassination attempt against President Trump was all too narrowly thwarted mere months after the actual assassination of another national political figure. We need to treat the illness these evil acts are the symptoms of.
Simba-sama made it to 2026, but just barely. It matters. His real name was just Simba, but he was wise, so it made sense to add “sama,” an honorific signifying high rank and wisdom, to that name. “Sensei” would have worked, too, because he taught the several other cats in Risa’s house how to be cats.
Charles Murray’s editor last week posted something about Murray’s latest book. “Taking Religion Seriously by @charlesmurray may be the most important book I\’ve ever edited,” Elizabeth Kantor wrote.
In fairness, Sola Fide is precisely “Justification by faith alone.” We have to be careful as both advocates and opponents of Protestant theology can misstate what the Solas mean. It doesn’t help me or others to help them misstate their own position.
If he had only waited a few years (and, I guess, not died) he could have blamed it on AI. There has been a whole lot of news in the last week. So there was not the coverage there otherwise might have been about the discovery of proof that the late Pope Francis was lying through his teeth when he announced four years ago next week that the world’s bishops hated the Latin Mass.
The other day, I was talking with a friend between jobs who was thinking about how to prepare for the next step. It took me back to a time I had to take the GRE — and that painful reminder of the need for preparation.
When Pope Francis passed away, some people asked me for an evaluation of his pontificate. A few days have passed since. Our Catholic friends finished their mourning period, and the conclave starts tomorrow, so now I think it’s the right time to share my thoughts.
This week, a Christian friend shared a new claim about an alleged health cure based on an event that never happened. Another shared what the briefest of searches would have revealed was a falsehood about a political foe. The short-term “win” is often a long way from the truth.