There’s an interesting discussion/blog going on over at the National Review site on the principles and viability of what has been called “Crunchy Conservatism”–”crunchy” as in Granola. You know, us folks who regard ourselves as “conservative” in terms of fundamental social values–faith, family, etc.–but who have never cottoned to the Big Government/Big Business/Big Military political [...]

Jim Manney, whose parish book group reads Catholic novels on a regular basis, has a nice little review up of Walker Percy’s Lancelot

By virtue of his already classic Mariette in Ecstasy and Atticus, his two novels with Catholic themes, Ron Hansen must already be viewed as one of the great Catholic novelists writing in English. He’s also one of the few, judging by a recent interview in Sojourners, who doesn’t cringe at the description, bless him. Given [...]

I’m not sure how Debra (my wife) learned about Rebecca Dussault. But, the flag of interest was Pier Giorgio Frassati, the “men of the eight Beatitudes” (John Paul II); Rebecca and her family have asked Pier Giorgio (who died of polio at age 24 in 1925) to accompany them on their journey to Turin.
In [...]

Clan Murphy is mourning the loss of our dear friend and former pastor Fr. Frederick Heuser of St. James the Apostle Parish in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Father had battled cancer for some years, and had been on dialysis, but it sounds as if his heart attack was nonetheless unexpected.
We lived in St. James parish for twelve [...]