Mary Murphy told a story at Stories from the Stage.
Two elements give strength to the bonds that make a society. One is the force of habit in individuals; the other is the force of their collective faith – faith in the value, the rightness, the permanence of their particular civilization. —Barzun, “What are the Cracks in Our Civilization?
Why say good? One is good, who is God. If you want life keep the commandments. Sc. 71, Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19
Probably too much emphasis is placed on being good, and too little on obedience and love.
Ideas and realities: “For Isaac and his countrymen, and Jews anywhere, it’s an imminent reality.” —Patrick Kurp, ‘All Forms of Evil ’Neath the Sun’
When men and women rise from the dead they will neither marry nor be given in marriage but will live like God’s angels in heaven. Sc. 78, Matthew 22:30
In heaven, husbands and wives are apparently uncoupled.
Dear Priests:
A Catholic at Mass might sometimes completely miss the moments of Consecration. Bells are helpful.
How is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' —from today’s Gospel
All are invited, but you must be appropriately dressed.
What we care most about we can do nothing about; so: prayer.
This is the synod that doesn’t end twitter.com/LeoTheLes…
Mary Pumpkins
For Jew and Christian, the First Great Commandment is greater than the Second Great Commandment.
Mortimer is Mortimer Adler.
Szasz, Karl Kraus and the Soul-Doctors, or: Anti-Freud
I tell you this: there is not a thoughtless word that comes from men’s lips but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment. For out of your own mouth you will be acquitted; out of your own mouth you will be condemned. Matthew 12:36–37, quoted in Thomas Szasz, Anti-Freud
Who Cared Who's Gay?
Lionel Trilling wrote in response to something I had published about Forster a long time ago. It was an astonishing letter. He said that he realized E. M. Forster was homosexual only years after he had completed his book on Forster’s work. It wasn’t an issue in the society at the time he was writing. The atmosphere didn’t lead anyone to think along those lines, and Trilling himself was unaware. —{Cynthia Ozick](https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2693/the-art-of-fiction-no-95-cynthia-ozick)
Anecdote, October 2023. Two friends of our returned from Europe feeling ill. They both self-tested positive for COVID. They went to their doctor, who told them: Don’t test.