Abraham's Journey
By Charlie Johnston Everyone knows that we have entered uncharted waters that are very choppy – both in the Church and in the world. My whole life has been a journey through choppy, uncharted waters. The choices I made led me to the Catholic Church, animated by an unshakeable faith in the existence and providence […]
Read More My Hierarchy of First ThingsBy Charlie Johnston The title to this piece is a shout-out to our French readers. It means the same thing as the English idiom, “The die is cast,” though I think the literal translation of the French provides a more vivid and clear picture than the English idiom. Literally, the French idiom says “The bets […]
Read More Les Jeux Sont FaitsBy Desmond A. Birch As previously stated, numerous voices are now commonly heard to proclaim or hint that St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI knew about the depth of the clerical abuse all along – and chose to do nothing. Recently, I was asked if I knew whether this was true. After […]
Read More TO KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE – PART IIBy Charlie Johnston Orangevale, California – When I was in my 20’s, while visiting family in Alabama, I spent an afternoon with a distant cousin (almost every time I am there, I discover relatives I have never previously heard of). He had one of the weirdest things I have ever seen: a glass gallon jar […]
Read More L’Chaim, To Life!First Council of Nicea By Desmond A. Birch (As Desmond noted about the image, the painting forces one to eventually focus on Emperor Constantine – who thought HE was running the Council – sitting with crown in the foreground. Also to be noted is how the painter took creative license as Constantine actually wore […]
Read More To Kill Two Birds with One Stone – Part I(I published this piece in the summer under the title of “Fireworks in Our Future.” It seems very appropriate to me now. I am in the midst of a very busy period of my journey – just left Los Angeles, heading for San Francisco and Sacramento. I expect to be in court this week for […]
Read More The Road to PerditionBy Charlie Johnston Out in Los Angeles, I visited the grave of the late Monsignor William Stetson at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery. He was always Fr. Bill to me – and to countless others. He was my original spiritual director, the first person I ever told fully about my peculiar situation. He was a premier […]
Read More We Hardly Knew YeI will have a piece up later tonight, but in the meantime, Los Angeles area readers need to know that the venue for tomorrow’s talk has changed. The talk will begin at 1 p.m. Pacific time. We will be at: Grace Lutheran Church 4427 Overland Ave. Culver City, California 90230 If you are in the […]
Read More A Change of VenueBy Charlie Johnston A Terrible Resolve After watching large segments of Donald Trump’s massive rallies in Minneapolis and Lake Charles the last two nights, I am now persuaded that Democrats have made a HUGE mistake in their attempt to impeach him. They are once again playing Wile E. Coyote. It is not the size of […]
Read More Border SkirmishesBy Charlie Johnston I am saddened by the trajectory of the world. Throughout my life, I have struggled to find ways of mitigating the consequences of the ever-growing disorder and malice that engulfs us. In some ways, I feel like the patriarch, Abraham, who kept pleading and bargaining with God to spare Sodom (Genesis 18:16-33). […]
Read More 10,000 Islands of Faith