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Maureen Mullarkey: Studio Matters

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Dr. Fell & Fr. Bergoglio

Jorge Bergoglio and a particular old ditty go together in my mind. Of all the nursery rhymes I treasured in childhood, the one I still recite—sotto voce and out of earshot of other grownups—is Tom Brown’s snub to Dr. Fell. “I do not like thee, Dr. Fell / The reason why I cannot tell. / But this I know, and know full well, / I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.”    This plucky little canticle of personal distaste was penned in imitation of a Martial epigram while Brown (d.1704) was a student at Christ Church, Oxford. Continue Reading

Canon 212 & Aggiornamento Recidivus

Aggregator websites continue to grow and evolve for good reason. We rely on them to sift the welter of online news sources and narrow choices to a manageable level. Most of us follow several at once for things we want to know, plus the things we wish we did not know but need to. What matters is the quality of discernment behind the selection of headlines and bylines. Is the curator an algorithm for all-you-can-eat news hounds or a living person whose sensibilities align with your own? Continue Reading

Vulgarity, Popularity, & The Periphery

Flannery O’Connor said it first: “Stupidity and vulgarity are harder to put up with than sin, harder on the nerves.” Therein is one reason Pope Francis is so irritating. By no means can any man who ascends to the Chair of Peter be faulted for stupidity. But one who pants after personal popularity as Francis does opens himself to the charge of vulgarity. Vulgarity is a roomy concept. It covers more than crude language and slack manners. Showing off, too, is vulgar. Continue Reading

God Loves Stories

On a recent Sunday, the visiting priest stepped down from the pulpit into the aisle to give his homily. He began by telling us that the meaning of our faith is often best conveyed, not by theological statements, scholarly arguments, or even the catechism, but by stories. And he had one for us.  I like this priest very much. He offers Mass with great reverence, and his counsels are usually apt, always gracious. But this time, he sent me wandering off. Continue Reading

Christmastide

We are still in Christmastide. The liturgical season extends past the Epiphany to commemoration of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan. This year, that takes us to January 9, 2017. Christmas remains with us until then. It is easier for me to talk about Christmas when the day itself—the gaiety, feasting, gift-giving—is done. Christians are an Easter people, not a Christmas one. Christianity is an Easter faith, one that recognizes the splendor of the Nativity only in the light of the Resurrection. Continue Reading
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