Guest Post: Book Review of “American Priest: The Ambitious Life and Conflicted Legacy of Notre Dame’s Father Ted Hesburgh,” by Rev. Wilson Miscamble

FATHER HESBURGH OF NOTRE DAME:

ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A GREAT CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

WHILE RIDING THE TIGER

by James M. Thunder*

*The author is a Washington, D.C., attorney. He double-majored in theology and government at Notre Dame. He has written articles online severely critical of the Catholic nature of Notre Dame’s current president.

We shall always hope to find them [newly-free countries] strongly supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

       President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, 1961

Fr. Hesburgh rode the back of the tiger. Did he end up inside? Father Wilson D. (“Bill”) Miscamble has authored the 400-page biography, American Priest: The Ambitious Life and Conflicted Legacy of Notre Dame’s Father Ted Fr. Hesburgh (Image) that answers this question in the affirmative.

Thinking about Christmas and a Book to Help Catholics "Get It!"

Jesus teaching his disciples

Book Review:
The Language of Dissent: Answering Those Who Distort the Catholic Faith
by Kevin Lents
Published by Litteral's Christian Library Publications, 2014

How many Catholics really know their faith? Most young parents today grew up with marshmallow-style catechetics. I remember one of the elementary books in my own parish that had mirrored foil in the front of the book to focus the child on self and pictures of Jesus that were downright scary. I sometimes wonder whether there was a deliberate attempt to make materials that would destroy the faith of children. Whether or not it was deliberate, it certainly did the job judging from those falling away from the faith, especially the millennials. It isn't just Catholic millennials, of course; Sadly, the younger generation across the board is bailing on the Church.

Book Review: Liturgy and Personality by Dietrich von Hildebrand

Book Title: Liturgy and Personality

Author: Dietrich von Hildebrand

Publisher:The Hildebrand Project

$14.26 at Amazon 

Dietrich von Hildebrand was one of the leading Catholic philosophers of the 20^th century, a man Pope Pius XII called a modern “Doctor of the Church.” Von Hildebrand’s recently republished work, Liturgy and Personality, (hereafter referred to as L&P), demonstrates the justice of the pope’s respect. First published in 1933, L&P is a journey into the heart of the liturgy of the Tridentine Mass, now described as the extraordinary rite. The book helps explain its ongoing popularity even among the young who are often, in their youthful idealism, the most eager to encounter the fullness of Christ in the liturgy and to be transformed by Him. Unfortunately, in view of his recent remarks describing young people who love the extraordinary rite as “rigid,” even Pope Francis fails to understand the timeless attraction and deep mystery of the Church’s ancient liturgy shared by most of the saints. One of the great tragedies of the post Vatican II Church was the denigration and suppression of the Tridentine Mass.

Reflecting on Social Justice: But What Is It?

Does this depict the meaning of social justice for Catholics?

Social justice is a phrase thrown about frequently. For many it means act like Robin Hood. Take from the rich (anyone who has more than you do) and give it to those who have less (you, of course). We're not talking voluntary giving here, but forced "charity" usually handled by government bureaucrats who have the power to coerce redistribution of income from workers to takers (often those whom they see as voting blocks grateful for government largesse  using other people's money).

Book Review: My Battle Against Hitler by Dietrich von Hildebrand

Published by Image Books

Some books tell stories so important about figures who shape the history of their times that they demand to be read. My Battle Against Hitler (MBAH) by Dietrich von Hildebrand is one such book. It records the memoirs of Catholic German philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand, a man Pope Pius XII called a “20th century Doctor of the Church.” The book covers a 17 year slice of this great man’s life from the early years of National Socialism up to 1938 as he battled the “antichrist” of Nazism trying to wake a sleeping world to its grave errors and criminal actions. During this intense period, von Hildebrand abandoned his University post in Munich and his beloved home fleeing Germany in 1933 with his family. To stay, he felt compelled him to choose either compromise and silence, impossible to his conscience, or the concentration camp. The von Hildebrands settled first in one country and then another before finally emigrating to the United States in 1940. During Hitler's rise to power von Hildebrand's lonely voice trumpeted the warning of Nazism's threat to Europe and the world.