Abraham's Journey
By Charlie Johnston “I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; And even yet you are not ready.” – 1 Cor 3:2 When I was a young fellow, it was very striking to me that different preachers and different people in my little fundamentalist denomination would […]
Read More A Time for Heroes: The Way ForwardNear the end of February, I needed the longest break I have ever taken from this site due to the health needs of Fr. Wang, now ninety, for whom I provide care. As one who dwells on the positive, he has taken good care of his personal temple with exercise, nutritious food, plenty of rest, […]
Read More The Whole Church Needs a Permanent Pentecost(In my last piece, I said, in exasperation, that there is no “middle coming.” That was hyperbole – and wrong. I meant that there is no middle coming in the sense of Jesus coming in his normal humanity. I was frustrated because some have tortured the Church’s authentic teaching on the middle coming to mean […]
Read More The Middle ComingBy Charlie Johnston “Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him.” – Jesus Christ, Mark 14-15 When I was on the road over the last few years, occasionally I […]
Read More Invincible ArmorBy Charlie Johnston I have been working on an important, but complicated piece. Between wrestling with a virus and an increasingly spotty internet…there you go. The modem started getting hinky last Friday and finally just died. I think it was a Catholic modem. The news of the last week so mortified it, it just gave […]
Read More How Long, O Lord, How Long? – Short Takes(A friend asked me to repost this old piece on Mary and the Saints. I have a ton of stuff I am working on, but I am going back and forth with this stupid virus the last week. I get feeling good for a day, then am suddenly miserable. So this is a great time […]
Read More Mary and the Saints – for Protestants(I have been struggling with the bug that has been going around these last few dates. A commenter asked me to reprise what I had written about Islam a few years ago. I published this piece in November, 2015. The only thing I would change comes in Item 4 of my summary at the bottom, […]
Read More Concerning Islam(This was a comment by a faithful Priest who is a longtime reader and occasional commenter here. It describes the view from the pulpit from those who, despite the trials of these times, endeavor to live their mission with fidelity and fortitude. I liked it so much I reprint it, with permission, as a stand-alone […]
Read More From the Fiery Furnace(Two of the things that worry me these days are actually flip sides of a single coin. On the one hand, I worry that some people are going to be indiscriminate about condemning honorable – though sometimes timid – clerics because of the hideous behavior of some in the clergy. On the other, I worry […]
Read More Clergy Be Holy(A few housekeeping notes: 1) Of late, some commenters have adopted excessively salty language, which we frown on here. I have instructed moderators either to not clear such comments or, if the comment has compelling value, to edit out excessive saltiness before clearing it. 2) I was stunned to discover on Facebook that I have […]
Read More A Terrible Resolve
A Sign of Hope 