Posts tagged “catholicism”

  1. Both my parents don't believe in God, so I was raised as an atheist. We had a Christmas tree, but my parents were definitely upfront about the fact that they thought religions weren't true. I was the kid who worked to get us to stop doing a toy drive for Samaritan's Purse (which uses the toys to evangelize to poor children). I still think that's a wildly inappropriate charity for a public school.

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  2. Mary J. Breen's previous work for The Toast can be found here. Most recently: When We Wore Foundation Garments. When I was about ten, my mother gave me a special holy card for my prayer book. I remember it vividly. It was a smudgy cream colour with fading print, and it was tattered and torn around the edges. On the front was glued a long pale leaf which, according to the fine print,…

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  3. Dear Pope Stephen VI: Thank you for your application for sainthood. Unfortunately, we are unable to grant your request at this time. When examining the merits of church prelates, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints looks favorably on efforts to strengthen the integrity of Church ecclesiastical offices. And of course no application for sainthood can be harmed if the applicant has been martyred in the name of Christ. We assume you know this, which…

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  4. “This is how it is with Mary: If you want to know who she is, you ask theologians; if you want to know how to love her, you have to ask the people. In turn, Mary loved Jesus with the heart of the people, as we read in the Magnificat. We should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the church.” "Oh, my God, Real Housewives comes back tonight?…

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  5. Slightly Less Beloved Classics takes a second look at the lesser-known works of celebrated authors. Here we shall decide what is to remain by the wayside and what is to be led gaily back home, lauded with timbrels and trumpets and fatted calves. Previously in this series: Nightingale Wood.  A Canticle for Leibowitz is the kind of book that, if you have read it and you see it on a bookshelf at someone else's house,…

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