Intricate details and deep meaning characterize Daniel Mitsui’s religious art, which he renders by hand using ink on paper or vellum. Mitsui draws biblical subjects and saints according to the conventions of traditional iconography. More than being just representations of scenes and persons, Mitsui’s works are visual theological treatises. For example, his Pentecost shows not [...]
“I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it is very difficult to find anyone.” —J. R. R. Tolkien People are scared of having adventures. This is true, even for the people whose hearts want to explore. Something’s holding them back–the what if? questions, fear that we will return [...]
The other evening an episode of M*A*S*H came on. Now that’s a great show. Here’s why I like it.
Waiting on four pepperoni HARs (hot and readys) to be…well…ready (Little Ceasar’s was back-logged) I moseyed over to the bar next door to find a bar bathroom. I found and entered a small closet with two urinals and a stall and an older gentleman followed close behind and grabbed a urinal before I did. Now [...]
The world is constantly telling women that we aren’t good enough. We go unseen, unsought, unpursued, and this all leads us to believe that we are unworthy. Unworthy of what, you ask? Unworthy of happiness, joy, love, peace, and any good thing that life could offer us. These lies, straight from the mouth of Satan, [...]
“Think about what would happen if New Advent, Catholic Answers, Busted Halo, and Ignitum Today all fused together into one website for youth…” I teach 7th grade. Don’t worry, I’m completely sane, even at the end of the school year when my students’ hormones are raging and the scent of summer fills their nostrils. Granted, [...]
And this is precisely what Christianity is about. This world is a great sculptor’s shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life. —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Isn’t this a lovely picture? And so very accurate—we are lifeless [...]
Today I’d like to share with you Behold, Your Mother! a teen girl’s reflections on the Holy Rosary. First of all, I would like to applaud the author, Grace Belle-Oudry. It takes a lot of courage to talk about faith with a number of people you will never meet. It takes a lot of courage [...]
After listening to a great talk issued by Lighthouse Catholic Media’s new young adult line, Truth be Told, I found myself greatly in need of an emotional chastity makeover. The talk, entitled “Why Do Women Do That?” and given by Lisa Cotter, examined the way a woman’s mind works, how men should best respond, and [...]
Last week my friend Audrey and her husband Phil took their two children to the Texas Roadhouse at Arrowhead in Peoria, Arizona – a suburb of Phoenix. One of their kids, Henry, has autism and he had a rough time adjusting to the new environment with its music, noise, bustling people, animal heads on the walls, and [...]
With mercury we measure pain as we measure the heat of bodies and air; but this is not how to discover our limits– you think you are the center of things. If only you could grasp that you are not: the center is He and Hem too, finds no love– why don’t you see? [...]
I haven’t been an adult that long – graduated college two years ago, married less than one year ago – but I’m already sick of it. When I was a kid, I thought it would be really cool to be an adult, because I could be in charge. Mom couldn’t make me clean my room, [...]
Why do we so often look up to singers who use auto-tune (or lip-syncing) to make their voices sound “perfect?” I think it is a matter of insecurity, the temptation to be God. Because we want a goodness that no human can possibly have, we tend to seek truth using our misguided human maps. We [...]
In 388 AD, Saint Augustine wrote: “We all certainly desire to live happily; and there is no human being but assents to this statement almost before it is made.” True. But what does it mean to be happy? Season one, episode one of a little show called Sex and the City considers this question as it applies [...]
I have a bachelor’s degree in Catholic theology. This and $1.50 will buy me a pack of gum. If you are Catholic then you probably know a lot of big words like transubstantiation and hypostatic union. It is very important that we have these words because they help distinguish between what is right and what [...]
My 13 year old son (#2) and 8 year old daughter (#4) were playing the Wii yesterday when the inevitable fight broke out. “But why do you get to be the girl? There’s only one girl and a bajillion boys. Be one of them.” My sweet daughter whined for the thousandth time at her brother. [...]
Ever heard any of these dismal statements? “Young Catholics are totally disconnected from the faith.” “There are no young Catholics engaged in the Church anymore.” “The Church is a dying institution.” If you ever discuss the faith outside of the four walls of a parish, you probably have. If you’re like me, though, I prefer [...]
If there is one Catholic website out there that, in my opinion, more people should be following and reading, it is By Way of Beauty. Matthew generously agreed to allow me to pick his brain, and he provided some great insights on culture, beauty, and evangelization. The greatest part about ByWayofBeauty.com is that it is [...]
While writing her opinions of several C.S. Lewis books she had recently finished, a friend of mine remarked: “The more I learn, the more I want to love.” This sentence resonated with me because it reflected such an honest and beautiful desire of the soul to continue to learn more about her Divine Spouse. Here she [...]
It was 2006, the time the Da Vinci Code movie was released. Debates buzzed in Catholic blogosphere, while the billboards advertising the movie were displayed throughout the city. It was hard not to see Leonardo’s Last Supper and not think “Dan Brown”. But another feature of the painting caught my attention. This, and all the [...]
In roughly 24 hours, the Sacred Triduum will begin. During these three days, the Church commemorates in a solemn manner the Passion, Death, and Burial of her Spouse, Our Blessed Lord. These days are a time to enter into more fervent prayer. For those of us who wonder “Where did Lent go?” and feel that [...]
In this post I will present some ideas on how the commercially distributed arts and entertainment might have a chance of returning to a state of grace.
Boston, MA – It’s rare when a musical ensemble has the opportunity to perform before the preacher to the Papal Household, but also gets invited as part of the lineup at Blue Flame, an Oklahoma-based Protestant ministry that explores the intersection of worship and the arts. Now, the Boston-based With One Heart, a contemporary Christian rock [...]
I should clarify; I love the Internet. Given this personal sweet-tooth for the World Wide Web though, I’ve reflected for some time about the properly Catholic stance toward the Internet. Clearly, we need to use it to evangelize. However, what is it about Web 2.0, the age of comboxes, social media, and hyper-connectedness that strikes [...]
Q. How do you pronounce “ignitum”? A. Well, you have some options. The Romans would have said ig-NEE-toom. In church, we’d say “in-YEE-toom.”
Why?
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