On the back of a rotten dream and a few following unsettled nights, I dragged just about every scriptural reference book I own out, blew off the dust, and began scratching out the following. It’s heavy but it’s worth the toil. I think. The Catholic doctrine of Purgatory has always been a scandal to the … Continue reading The Fires That Cleanse: On Purgatory, Scripture, and the Uneasy Middle
Tag: Catholic
Bread Upon the Waters
Ecclesiastes 11:1, the art of giving, and the peculiar futility of being alive “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” — Ecclesiastes 11:1 There’s something heartbreakingly hopeful about that line, isn’t there? Something that makes you want to nod sagely, as if you understand it, even though - … Continue reading Bread Upon the Waters
Almost Lent, So… In Defence of Mary: A Passionate Rebuttal to the Doubters
As we stand on the cusp of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and profound intimacy with Christ’s suffering, I find myself compelled to address a grievance that resurfaces time and time again. It is an accusation flung at Catholics with an almost tiresome predictability, a claim made not in the spirit of inquiry but … Continue reading Almost Lent, So… In Defence of Mary: A Passionate Rebuttal to the Doubters
A Pathetic and Shadowy Medley: Tolkien’s Catholic Critique of Protestantism
Having spent a considerable amount of time in Durham Cathedral of late, I have also found myself immersed in The Last Office, a compelling work of narrative history that chronicles the sixteenth-century dissolution of the monasteries - most notably, Durham itself. Meanwhile, like many in recent years, I have been hearing the ever-growing clamour for reparations, … Continue reading A Pathetic and Shadowy Medley: Tolkien’s Catholic Critique of Protestantism
The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt
Not exactly leading the canon of poetry but this cute little ditty has a profound message, a message I personally should have heeded a few times over the course of my adult life; but sadly didn't. I'm not and never have been a vain person, however, when we meet those insidious flatterers in life, it … Continue reading The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt
Wording 