One Catholic Life Blog
Backyards Birds at Breakfast
Audio of a few birds in my backyard. Recorded with my iPhone this morning. http://www.nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/backyards-birds-at-breakfast.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Moody Blues in Concert
I’ve been experimenting with the Posterous iPhone app, and I thought I’d check to see how Posterous integrated with my blog. Please pardon me if this post disappears. This is video from a Moody Blues concert I attended a few weeks ago. Great concert. I never thought I’d have a chance to see these guys perform live. http://www.nicksenger.com/onecatholiclife/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/moodyblues.m4vPodcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
55 Ways to Start the New Year
Three years ago for Lent, Orthodox priest Fr. Tom Hopko wrote a list of “things that a believer would do if he were really a believer.” As 2011 begins, this is going to be the list I use for my spiritual development. Here are his 55 maxims (If you’re interested in a fuller explanation of the maxims, be sure to listen to this episode of Fr. Tom’s podcast, “Speaking the Truth in Love”): Be always with Christ and trust God in everything Pray as you can, not as...
The 10 Best Books I Read in 2010
These are the best ten books I read this year in rough order of how enriching and enjoyable they were: The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything by Fr. James Martin, SJ The Road by Cormac McCarthy The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing by Peter Kreeft Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird The Children of Hurín by J.R.R. Tolkien Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay A Travel Guide to...
Mortimer Adler: The Forgotten Educational Reformer
I firmly believe that Mortimer Adler is one of the most misunderstood and neglected thinkers of the last one hundred years. Often labeled elitist and Eurocentric, people often confuse his views on education with people like Allen Bloom and Ed Hirsch, who advocate a kind of cultural literacy as a key component of education. On the contrary, I believe Adler’s views on educational reform are deeply democratic and innovative. He was recommending changes to the educational system decades before other more trendy names were found for them. The...
How the Church Can Help GenXers and Boomers in Culture Conflict
Barbara Nicolosi-Harrington has written an extraordinary piece for Patheos analyzing how the entertainment industry is changing as the Baby Boomers give way to the GenXers, and how the Church can minister to both generations. Nicolosi-Harrington sees a possible rediscovery of optimism and faith in Generation X films, and recommends that the Church encourage and affirm these efforts. At the same time, Baby Boomers need help taking responsibility for their mistakes: “The rigid eradication of tradition, the gross materialism, the unbridled license, the embarrassing promiscuity — all always accompanied...
Thomas Merton on the Divine Office
I came across this moving testimony to the of the Liturgy of the Hours in Thomas Merton’s autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain: Presently [my brother] said: “What’s that package you’ve got under your arm? Buy some books?” “Yes.” When he had unlocked the car, I ripped the paper off the package, and took out the cardboard box containing the set of four books, bound in black leather, marked in gold. I handed him one of the volumes. It was sleek and smelled new. The pages were edged in...
Look at Your Man, Now Look at Me – A Parody for Students
Joe Bower posted a link to a parody of the popular Old Spice body wash commercials that have been taking YouTube by storm. It’s well worth spreading around to any students you know: First, the original commercial: Now, the parody:
Does Ridicule Have a Place in Catholic Discourse?
Last week I commented on the blog of a popular Catholic apologist when he seemed to ridicule Vice President Biden. Though it appears I misunderstood his blog post, the comment began a brief discussion about the place of ridicule in public discourse. I wrote, “I’d like Biden out of office, too, but not by ridiculing him out. Let’s raise our level of discourse and not lose our souls to gain the whole world.” Here is what he had to say in response: …I guess I have to disagree...
