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Category Archives: open thread
Resurfacing Sabbath and Sunday
You may have noticed that the Laudato Si’ 237 discussion has awakened recently. I welcome comments and discussion here. I suspect the action there is driven by some aspect of the google. At the risk of making a rabbit hole … Continue reading
What’s Around, What’s Up Ahead
Site traffic keeps pace as people come here looking for wedding and funeral readings. I somewhat miss the repartee of the old days. For that, I guess there’s still Facebook. Pope Francis’ address the other week to the bishops of … Continue reading
Posted in open thread, The Blogosphere
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Open Friday With Dick and Max
Long-time readers know I dislike censoring practices in media, including banning commenters on blogs or deleting posts. I will mention that one of Max’s he said/he said screeds went into the trash a little while ago. He knows why: don’t … Continue reading
Posted in open thread, Scripture
25 Comments
Open Thread: Proof-Texting
Our friend and once-frequent commenter Max is back. In a deleted comment on Amoris Laetitia 91, he wrote: Seems this post and the Pope’s use of those Bible passages qualifies as an example of “proof texting.” This is not to … Continue reading
Posted in open thread
45 Comments
Open Friday, The Last of Lent
Two more Penance readings are in the queue for publication–the last psalm tomorrow and the last Old Testament reading of that series Monday. That leaves the big parable of Luke 15 and one other in the draft pile. I don’t find … Continue reading
Posted in open thread
2 Comments
Observing Friday and/or Lent
RNS linked Cardinal Dolan’s post questioning if we have lost it. What does the tradition tell us? Have Irish folk dispensed from eating corned beef on a day that always falls within Lent? Have some stooped to eat capybaras and … Continue reading
Posted in Lent, open thread
2 Comments
Open Thread on Favorable Interpretation
Long-time readers know one of my favorite Catechism sections is #2478: To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way: Every good Christian ought to be … Continue reading
Posted in open thread, spirituality
15 Comments
Open Thread on Monotheism
Max takes exception to a certain certainty I espouse, that Abraham and his God are at the root of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Why are you so certain this is true? why are you being so forceful about it? I suppose I’m … Continue reading
Posted in open thread
19 Comments
Open Weekend
How about another open thread? We seem to have left our two steadiest comrades in dissent to other devices. Or websites. Tomorrow’s post on Dives in Misericordiae will be the last for that document. To be honest, I haven’t given … Continue reading
Posted in open thread
1 Comment
Monday Opening
Here’s a good summary of evolution in this BBC feature. To the east of me, lots of fossil finds, like this fish, right, from Wyoming. In reading up on natural wonders in my new state, I learned that native legends … Continue reading
Open Thread on Insults
Charles and a few others have taken exception to Max’s commentary here. (There are more comments communicated to me than what you see posted on the site.) Max responded to Charles, and in part, he wrote: I thought I was … Continue reading
Saint Paul and Max: A Good Mix For Penance?
Max researched some Saint Paul in the New Testament and found some instances in which the apostle advises his communities to have nothing to do with sinners. As far as I can tell, Paul and the other early believers were … Continue reading
Posted in open thread
57 Comments
Holy Week Open Thread
The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week are often the respite before Triduum. But God is as likely to move in our hearts if we are ready these days. My parish has a penance liturgy on Monday. The usual adoration … Continue reading
Posted in Holy Week, open thread
2 Comments
Open Thread on the Future Here
Earlier this past evening, I completed essays for the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy. They’re all in the schedule queue, ready to displace some electrons and come to your viewing screen each morning around 6am. We’ll continue with … Continue reading
Posted in open thread
1 Comment
Catholic Sensibility 
Open Thread: Distinguishing Fact and Truth
Max wondered about the distinction I attempted to make between fact and truth. His suggested context is religion. But I think the distinction exists in other aspects of human life. I’ll offer commentary on astronomy, a subject dear to me, … Continue reading →