Friday Links
August 9, 2024
Saint Edith Stein
Mark Dooley on Building, Beauty, and Belonging
James Matthew Wilson on The Neo-Latinate Imagination of Joseph Bottum
Jimmy Lai Remains in Solitary Confinement After Hong Kong Trial Delayed Until November
The Merry Beggars: Saint Maximilian Kolbe
The Secular Priest for a Secular Age
Mark Dooley on Building, Beauty, and Belonging
This essay from Mark Dooley was published by Public Discourse back in May, but it is one of those perennial essays that doesn’t get old. Please do read the whole thing.
What does the way we build tell us about the type of people we are? Many assume that architecture is simply a functional enterprise with no philosophical or theological significance. The truth is, however, that no aesthetic discipline matters more than architecture, and that is because, unlike the other arts which can be ignored at no personal cost, the way we build directly impacts everyone. Moreover, in the built environment, we see our values captured in material form. In civic buildings and homes, we tangibly perceive the self-image of society, community, and family life. They testify to our deepest longings, our eternal aspirations, and the extent to which we are committed to future generations. Of course, we build, first, to put down roots, to settle and to make a home. However, the way we do so signifies much about how we perceive the meaning of home, its place in our lives, and the sacrifices, if any, we are prepared to make for its preservation. To put it simply, the built environment mirrors or reflects the consciousness of those who designed it and those who dwell in it. This means, in turn, that it stands as the most reliable guide to what Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel called “the Spirit of the age”.
James Matthew Wilson on The Neo-Latinate Imagination of Joseph Bottum
Hopefully, you are already aware of at least of Joseph Bottum’s work, maybe from his years at First Things or, more recently, from his Substack Poems Ancient and Modern with Sally Thomas. In this excellent review for Religion and Liberty, Wilson offers a close look at Bottum’s latest collection of poems, Spending the Winter, as well as an overview of his work in general. I particularly appreciated the close attention paid to the music, meter, and meaning of the poems.
[W]e find that Bottum has a fine ear for the strong rhythms of song, an eye for the vivid phrasing that rekindles familiar details, and finally a voice blessed with a classical clarity that can speak of public and private matters, of death and politics alike.
Jimmy Lai Remains in Solitary Confinement After Hong Kong Trial Delayed Until November
Persecution of Christians is rarely, if ever, reported by the mainstream media. Mostly what the give us is nonsense, not real news. The National Catholic Register, fortunately, is willing to step in to share these stories, including Jimmy Lai’s story. Lai is a Catholic Chinese-born entrepreneur who “has spent more than three and a half years in solitary confinement since his arrest in December 2020.” You may remember hearing a little about him when he was first arrested. Since then, he’s
been detained . . . and was convicted for involvement in protests and unauthorized assembly in 2021 and sentenced to 17 months in prison. In 2022, Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for fraud. The current trial was set to begin in 2022 but began in December 2023, after a yearlong delay when the government tried to block him from choosing his own lawyer.
Please do read the rest of the article and pray for this brave and decent man. You can find more information about the ongoing persecution of Christians around the world through various organizations, including Aid to the Church in Need (you can also support them by requesting masses) and Open Door International. The Acton Institute has a documentary film about Jimmy Lai that is well-worth your time.
The Merry Beggars: Saint Maximilian Kolbe
The Merry Beggars offer superb audio entertainment for the whole family. “As the entertainment division of Relevant Radio, our vision is to support families in building beautiful culture in their homes, and to become the most trusted family entertainment brand in America by serving Christian and Catholic families with life-giving entertainment.” I’ve linked to their St. Maximilian Kolbe radio show, one example of their programming. Do you have a long car ride coming up, well, pull out the ear buds, turn off the ipads, and listen to one of these shows together. You won’t regret it.
The Secular Priest for a Secular Age
From our friends at Joie de Vivre, an essay by Fr. Brad Doyle, pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in St Francisville, LA parish priest, on his incarnation ministry to care for the all of the souls in his parish:
This is the universal mission of the parish priest. By that, I don’t mean he has a mission to all parts of the world. I mean, he has a mission to all parts of his parish. Traditionally this is called a pastor’s “care of souls.” The pope has care of souls for the entire world, the bishop his entire diocese, and the priest’s duty is the salvation of every person living in the parish boundaries, whether they are Catholic or not. The left end of the bar in the St. Francisville Inn is in my parish, not just technically, but truly. I have aggressively been ministering there since my first day’s arrival.
