“Disaster occurs not in the face of the disaster, but in the defeated response of the participants.” This bold and challenging statement appears on the website of the CRUDEM Foundation (www.crudem.org) which supports the Hopital Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Hospital) in Haiti.
Author: Dana Robinson
‘Charity and cheerfulness’
Both within its mission statement and within its classrooms this motto – “Charity and Cheerfulness” – of the St. Francis Xavier School in Philadelphia reverberates. One of the oldest continually operating parochial schools in the western hemisphere, St. Francis Xavier School (www.sfxschool.com) was for most…
Pro Cristo et Ecclesia
Today being the Feast of the Immaculate Conception it is a special honor to observe that listed on the National Catholic Community Foundation Catalog of Ministries are the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. Probably like me most Catholics in the United States have not had…
Noncommittal or radical ?
Some may know why the Dominicans are called ‘Black Friars,’ why the Carmelites are referred to as ‘White Friars,’ and why the Order of Friars Minor with their coffee colored habits are known as ‘Capuchins’ (after their cappuccinos or hoods); but how many know why…
….diminishing art, rising secularism…
Some time ago I came across a thought provoking article contrasting Islamic art with Christian art, the one proscribing depiction of the human form, the other celebrating it. Of course, the prohibition against portrayal of the human form arises from the traditional concern about idolatry.…
The Impact of Students for Life of Illinois
Coming into college, like so many other freshmen, I was a little self-absorbed. It’s easy to get distracted with your new surroundings, friends, coursework, and everything college has to offer.
Consider the mustard seed
All three synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) record Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. The traditional interpretation of this scriptural jewel will be familiar to most readers. Recently, though, I came across a contrary one which opined that the gigantic tree into which the…
...waves lapping, seabirds calling, Mass bells pealing…
In the last Advancing the Kingdom article I wrote about St. Luke’s Productions and commented on how rare and yet critical the sacred arts are for the renewal of culture. Since then I have learned of another “oasis” (in, in this case, literally an island)…
Renewing culture through the arts
Entertainment being what it is today, it is understandable that many are incredulous, or even unaware, that for the better part of the last millennium the preponderance of popular art was religious in nature. Whether performing, visual or theatrical, artistic enterprises – especially but not…
…. the march of goodness…
Not only do these minds of ours expand life in ideal directions and go beyond what is, but at their best these ideals of ours correlate and correspond with some sort of objective reality. They advance truth. They set forward the march of goodness.