Saturday, February 22, 20200392I recently finished a fascinating book by Norman Doidge on neuroplasticity, “The Brain that Changes Itself.” It’s a very readable book about how science is overturning the “mechanistic” view of the human being, which, Doidge argues, has dominated culture at least since the philosopher-scientist René Descartes (1596-1600)....
Wednesday, January 22, 20200448I do not often go to the movies, but I do try to see everything I can by the director Terrence Malick, since I think he is for movies what Michelangelo was for marble — a master of the medium like no other. His most recent movie, “A Hidden Life,” is one of the most interiorly beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. It recounts the...
Friday, December 20, 20190386It’s been many months now since the Feast of Corpus Christi, but the Eucharist has been on my mind ever since, especially as Advent begins and we rekindle our longing for the presence of Christ. The feast was first celebrated in Belgium in 1247 and then extended to the entire Church by Urban IV in 1264 in order to affirm the real,...
Monday, November 18, 20190417People today are deeply affected by the challenges of unity and diversity, especially the younger generations. These challenges are a chance for the Gospel to show its power.
For some people, our society’s affirmation of diversity must be so uncompromising that truth and unity, and therefore community, become acceptable losses. I...
Saturday, October 19, 20190291St. John Henry Cardinal Newman is an ecumenical saint: that is, he is a saint who in a sense belongs to all Christians, inasmuch as his eventual conversion to Catholicism was preceded by other conversions to other Christian traditions, all of which can be seen as representing a progressively deeper discovery of the Gospel. Before...
Saturday, September 21, 20190511I was pleasantly surprised earlier this summer when I saw confirmed in the prestigious journal Scientific American (May 2019) something I had often heard from some Catholics: namely, the hormonal contraceptives that our society offers millions of women have a rather dubious origin and an even more questionable future.
Friday, September 6, 20190208Recently, I accompanied some really awesome students to John Bunker Sands Wetlands Center, which is a beautiful water treatment facility and nature preserve southeast of Dallas. We listened to interesting presentations from the naturalists who care for the site, and then we tested the water quality. One of the tests was for turbidity, or...
Thursday, August 22, 20190193By Father John Bayer
Special to The Texas Catholic
One of the more disappointing things I read in the news recently was that Amazon decided, in response to a petition from LGBTQ activists, to stop selling books by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, a Catholic psychologist who promoted “reparative therapy” for those trying to reshape homosexual...
Friday, June 14, 20190201In a culture so saturated with sexuality as our own, among the most provocative lines of the Gospel is surely the following: some “have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (19:12).
Tuesday, May 14, 20190173Recently, we read a gospel passage that can make people cringe: the story of “doubting”Thomas (cf. Jn 20:19-31). This passage is, sadly, often interpreted as though it were contrasting reason, on the one hand, with faith (or gullibility), on the other. For example, one very influential atheist, Richard Dawkins, refers to the story of...
