Inspired by Truth, Enlightening Minds for the Church in Canada and Throughout the World
Inspired by Truth, Enlightening Minds for the Church in Canada and Throughout the World
Bob Newhart died the other day, and readers – at least, those of a certain era – may recall his dry, deadpan humour in his comedy routines, especially his two popular sitcoms, both named after himself: The Bob Newhart Show, (1972-78) wherein he played Chicago psychologist Robert Hartley, and the more simply named Newhart (1982-90),[…]
(Please note: this article refers to the book; admittedly, I have not seen the film.) Chinmoku – a Tragedy Contrary to the interpretation of many Western Catholics, Shūsaku Endō’s historical novel Silence (Chinmoku – as transliterated from the original Japanese title), properly understood, is a tragedy: It explores the apostasy of a Western Catholic missionary[…]
On this July 18th, 1870, the First Vatican Council, at the impetus of Pope Pius IX, proclaimed the dogma of papal infallibility. Some were against defining the doctrine – including Cardinal Newman. Not that they were against this truth itself, but that defining it was inopportune, and perhaps even impossible. It seems the Holy Spirit[…]
You must be patient, you must wait for the eye of the soul to be formed in you. Religious truth is reached, not by reasoning, but by an inward perception. Anyone can reason; only disciplined, educated, formed minds can perceive (Saint John Henry Newman, +1890)
(This is the second article in a series on Newman’s philosophy of education. For the first reflection, may be found here). Newman recognized that knowledge concerning morality cannot be deduced but should be induced, hence his preference for inductive learning. It could even be said that Newman relied upon assumptions not derived inductively, deductively, or[…]
On this day in 1917, the royal family of England, by order of King George V, changed their name from Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha to the simpler, and more English, ‘Windsor’, named after the castle and estates about twenty miles west of Charing Cross. The King discerned that the German-sounding moniker did not go over too well in[…]
Saint Alex – or Alexius – known as ‘the Beggar’ was a Christian in the early fourth-century, was the son of a Senator, Euphemian, and his wife, Aglae. Fearing the allure of the riches of the life intended for him, Alexius decided to renounce everything to follow Christ in poverty. He followed his parents’ wishes[…]
First Argument When skeptics complain bitterly about the so-called “Judaeo-Christian mythology,” one of their most frequent objection is to the incomprehensible cruelty of God as depicted in the story of Abraham and Isaac. What kind of a God is it, they ask, who would instruct the good man Abraham to offer up his son, a[…]
It was on this day in a Parisian summer in 1794 – one day after the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – that sixteen female members of the Carmelite Order, located at Compiègne – one day after their patronal feast – lined up one by one in the Place de la Révolution (now more ironically[…]
In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear. (Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, +1897)
![Shūsaku Endō’s novel Chinmoku [Silence]: Christ’s Sabachthani versus Fr. Rodrigues’ Apostasy](https://2026.catholicinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/silence.jpg)
