Friday Links
Sacred Heart of Jesus with Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Louis Gonzaga by José de Páez
May 2, 2025
“The Pause” by Christopher Honey
Confession Eclipsed
John Wilson on “The Erosion of Sin”
How God Sees Us
Painting with Sunlight: The Stained Glass Art of Harry Clarke
Who Will Help a Stranded Manatee?
“The Pause” by Christopher Honey
A lovely poem from our very own Christopher Honey with a bonus recording of him reciting the poem.
Confession Eclipsed
James F. Keating reviews two new books, including James M. O’Toole’s For I Have Sinned: The Rise and Fall of Catholic Confession in America:
The rise of confession in early American Catholicism entailed overcoming a series of challenges. At first it was a matter of finding enough priests to enable and inculcate the practice of the faith for the smattering of Catholics who lived throughout the states and territories. Establishing a habit of yearly confession, mandated for Catholics since the Middle Ages, was a high priority for the American hierarchy. O’Toole says that this goal was achieved by the time of the Civil War. “American Catholics were becoming a churchgoing people in a way that they had previously been unable to, setting patterns that would persist.” Later, the bishops had to confront an influx of Catholic immigrants who spoke different languages and brought a variety of ecclesial practices from Europe. The Baltimore Catechism did much to establish a baseline of uniformity in a larger and more diverse version of American Catholicism.
John Wilson on “The Erosion of Sin”
And John Wilson, a “Catholic-friendly Protestant” responds to O’Toole’s Book:
First, I simply want to add my praise for O’Toole. To describe a scholarly book as “saintly” would seem to be a confusion of categories (and might embarrass the author), yet another example of the rhetorical inflation that besets us on every hand, but it is only fitting in this case. O’Toole’s book has many virtues. The research was prodigious; just as impressive is his ability to work it seamlessly into his narrative. He writes with admirable clarity (giving the lie to the notion that one must choose between rigor and “accessibility”). He tells the story he set out to tell in just over three hundred pages (including endnotes). Yet what is most impressive (to this reader, at any rate) is what I would call the spirit of the book, epitomized in the opening and closing pages.
How God Sees Us
Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt on the sometimes difficult duty of the christian “to see the divine worth in everyone regardless of how they treat us”:
The divine worth in any despised person must be recognized, and we must protect and cherish it. Whenever we get together with people, we need to consider their value for the kingdom of God. If anyone sins against us or insults, punches, or swears at us, we should not think about the cursing, but be mindful. We could say: “He is foolish insulting me like that.” We can even tell him directly: “Hey, it’s stupid to curse like that!” But we should not despise him for insulting us because in God’s name we see him as precious for the kingdom of heaven.
Painting with Sunlight: The Stained Glass Art of Harry Clarke
In this episode Rachel and Phoebe put a spotlight on one of Ireland’s great artists: Harry Clarke. Famed for his stained glass art, Clarke’s work can be found in churches throughout Ireland, exhibiting his astounding use of colour and his distinctive figurative style. We discuss his place in Irish art history and his work establishing a distinctively Irish style in the 20th century. We contrast his religious work with his secular, often literary based pieces, and his use of gothic and grotesque elements in both. And we discuss how Clarke’s distinctive style draws the humanity out in his depictions of saints and his biblical scenes.
Who Will Help a Stranded Manatee?
Boze Herrington reviews A. M. Juster’s latest book (which my nieces love):
Early in A. M. Juster’s new children’s picture book, Girlatee, a female manatee named Grace is separated from her parents. Propelled from their favorite eelgrass haunt by a passing motorboat, she finds herself stranded on the beach. Rather than helping, nearby beachgoers spectate. Pulling out their phones, they jostle for pictures with the frightened creature.
