Margaret Anscombe

Photo by  Chad Greiter  on  Unsplash Acts 4:8-12; Psalm 118; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:14; John 10:11-18 Fading, fading; strength beyond hope and despair Climbing the third stair. —T.S. Eliot from Ash Wednesday This week's readings are a good reminder that it's rational to trust God, even when it feels like he's far away. I think often when prayers go unanswered for months or years, it's easy to feel like God has abandoned you. If you can't get a break, and you're in pain, and most of your friends are long gone, it can feel like God is gone too. But Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He not only doesn't abandon us, he died for us. Those who trust in him shall not be disappointed (Isaiah 49:23), even if they are disappointed now because in heaven God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. (Revelation 21:4)  No matter how things feel, how hopeless things seem, we can be still and know that he is God (Psalm 46:10) and that we are his children (1 John 3:2...

Photo by  Mathew Schwartz  on  Unsplash I've been working on writing a Latin dedication poem for the novella I am planning to self-publish. For whatever reason I decided that I wanted it to be a Sapphic Stanza à la Catullus 51. The meter for a Sapphic Stanza is: The '—' is a long syllable, 'u' a short syllable, and the 'x' can be either long or short. So far so simple, but when I sat down to write it took me the better part of a day to come up with this: Christe dono omnia quae mihi per Matrem-- et librum quoque si istum amas tu. Det libellus gloriolam quiete Nunc tibi, Rex mi. Translation: Christ, I give all things which are mine through the mother—and the book too if you love such a thing. Let it give a little glory quietly Now to you, my King. I wasn't too happy with this for a number of reasons. It's 100% meter driven and it didn't say what I wanted it to say, really. Dono omnia  was awkward because two vowels norm...

Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America by Donald J. Trump I read this book to get an idea of what Trump believes and what his goals are. It certainly gave me a broad general overview but it didn't go into a lot of depth. The book itself is not well-written. I've never read any of his other books but I got the feeling that this one was dictated and rushed to press. I found it easier to read if I imagined Trump saying the words out loud because it was so very conversational. The book also occasionally went off on weird tangents, like people do in conversation. I'm glad I read it because I was curious to know his thoughts on things, but I would guess that someone who went to or listened to his speeches would have little need to read this book. They would probably know everything in it already. I just don't much enjoy listening to politicians talk so opted for the book. (Though in all fairness, I find Trump easier to listen to than a lot of politicians...

Photo by  Shalone Cason  on  Unsplash Acts 3:13-15,17-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 2:1-5a; Luke 24:32; Luke 24:35-48 "For these, and all my sins which I cannot now remember, I am truly sorry [...]" —Anglican Act of Contrition Last week we learned that we show love to God by keeping his commandments. This week we learn that we can only know God if we keep his commandments, and that the only way we can keep his commandments is if we "repent [and are] converted so that [our] sins may be wiped away. (Acts 3:19) Repenting is tough, especially in some ways with the little sins, the sins that don't seem to matter all that much. If I'm uncharitable towards someone on Twitter or if I'm curt with someone for disappointing me when I confided in them, it's easy for me to say, "Oh well, those sins are probably venial." And they probably are. But Jesus didn't say, "Be flawed, but only in ways that aren't a big deal." He said, ...

Photo by  Yoal Desurmont  on  Unsplash Acts 4:32-35, Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24, 1 John 5:1-6, John 20:19-31 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. — 1 John 5:3 So often it seems difficult even to know how we ought to demonstrate to God that we love him, but he already told us how to love him. We show our love for him by obeying his commandments. I think this can end up being a particularly good way of showing our love for him precisely because it can go against our inclinations. If I don't feel like going to Mass, it would be easier to stay home. But when I do go, it shows that I believe that what God wants is more important than what I want. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It's not that hard to go to Mass. But it is still a death to self, if a tiny one. And tiny acts of love can add up. We don't live in a culture that thinks much of obedience. Our culture celebrates independence and glorifies rebels. To obey God can be ...

I started A Retreat for Lay People  by Ronald A Knox a long time ago but only got back to it recently. Ronald Knox reminds me of St. Francis de Sales and Archbishop Fulton Sheen in that he always makes me feel like being a Catholic is doable and not some kind of impossible nightmare. I especially liked his reflection on St Mary Magdalene in which he insisted that it is enough for us to follow her example. She 'did what she could' and that is all God expects from us. I may not be getting it quite right, but I know that when Catholic spiritual writers suggest things like, 'think of yourself as snail that slimes everything it touches,' I just feel like giving up completely. That certainly isn't Knox's style at all. I also thought his reflection on the Rosary helpful. He talks about how, in His Passion, Jesus endured all the different kinds of suffering that God calls us to endure, from mental anguish to physical pain and death. It's upsettin...