Religion

Since the Pope thinks so highly of Vatican II I suppose I should reread at least the main documents he mentions in the speech I just linked. Isn’t it nice that everything’s instantly available online these days?

I should say though that none of this bothers me much. I’m accustomed to the idea that the … More ...

A reader sent me a link to this speech by John Paul II explaining his attitude toward Vatican II. The Pope certainly takes a high view of the Council. Perhaps because I’m a lawyer, and much farther from sanctity than His Holiness, the speech leaves me with concerns:

• He speaks of the Council as “a

What sense did it make to call Vatican II? The Pope called together thousands of men most of whom didn’t know each other and weren’t used to working together on anywhere near such a grand scale. In a gathering like that intelligent joint deliberation doesn’t seem likely unless the point is to deal with specific … More ...

This is the sort of thing that makes me nervous about Catholicism: the Touchstone magazine blog includes a comment today on the Reflections on Covenant and Mission put out by the bishops’ committee not long ago. The comment points out that in a recent piece in America members of the committee that wrote the report … More ...

One thing that draws me to Catholicism is that it works and is built to last. I’ve mentioned the Tridentine mass as an example of something characteristically Catholic—whatever the state of affairs or your frame of mind, it works when you approach it. That’s a sign that it presents a sort of universal form of … More ...

Went to “RCIA” again today, my third session. I use the scare quotes because the parish doesn’t have a formal program, they just match you up with a priest and you come in once a week to talk. We’re using Ratzinger’s The Spirit of the Liturgy as the basis for discussion—a step up from the … More ...

It seems that “metanoia” really means a change of mind with respect to action. So the mental aspects of getting your life turned around would be metanoia on a grand scale. Sounds pretty close to “conversion,” but I like the Greek word anyway.

But what’s the need of conversion? Why want to … More ...

Why “metanoia”? Usually I don’t like the Christian use of Greek words, agape, kairos, koinonia or whatever. The effect is to suggest special authoritative knowledge that the rest of us just have to accept, and the substance is more often tendentious overemphasis on a one-sided interpretation of a key term. Still, I like … More ...

I put the following notes together shortly before beginning the process leading to conversion:

I want to become a Catholic because:

1. Grand philosophical reasons:

• I believe in a God with purposes. That’s the only way I can make sense of a world in which there is real good and evil, or for that matter

Naturally, I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while. For anyone who’s interested, here are some thoughts on Catholicism from my other blog:

• Centralization and tradition in the Church
• Christianity and politics
• Conservatism as orthodoxy
• Clerical Celibacy
• James Carroll’s The Sword of Constantine