The Catholic Message Board

I read, and thought about, the preceding two posts. They evoked, perhaps, a glimmer of understanding. The first, it seems to me, presents a macro view of the topic; the latter, a micro. Let me begin with the food bank. What I seem to hear is that empathy can be evaluated based upon intent. If one do...

...moved from Manhattan recently to Jersey City, NJ, just across the Hudson River from where I work in lower Manhattan. Jersey City is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the US and has a large population of Arabs, including many Copts. Have only been to NYC about five times ... three were...

If I can, as the elevated ongoing conversation is well beyond me, offer a mundane example of questionable virtue. Some years ago, a driver ahead of me and in the right of way, stopped in the lane to allow another vehicle, not in the right of way with the female driver seemingly somewhat confused, to...

Doom wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2026 9:15 pm...As for me, I am often reading 10 or more books at a time ...

Wow! I commonly do 4-5 and have gotten up to, maybe, 7.

BTW, I read Moby Dick. It took me over 20 years.

Keep 'em coming. But not to the extent that I will be motivated to follow your path following DQ.

AI generated, I think.

Doom wrote: ↑Sat Mar 07, 2026 9:16 pm... I think the funniest line from that scene is the conclusion, "I think this situation absolutely requires that a really futile and stupid gesture be done on someone's part." ...

This entire exercise just goes to show you that seven years of college did not go down the drain.

When I was lost and wandering in the night I tried to earn the morning with my hands But grace came down like a sudden light And showed me love I couldn’t understand God alone began the story Christ alone has paid the price Faith alone receives the glory Of His perfect sacrifice No, you can’t buy m...

if anyone says (no) that god alone is the quiet maker of mercy that christ bleeding is the bright price paid that faith—small hand open empty receives (and works not throne not coin not crown but only green leaves after rain) — let him hear how true faith never sleeps how love moves the root and th...

....Let's go strolling
There's a girl in my heart,
Whose heart I've stolen...

The Sinner—justified— Not by the Busy Hand— Nor Ledger of the Deed—kept close— By any Mortal’s Stand— But God—the Only Artisan— Who turns the Key of Grace— And Christ—the Cost—so dearly paid— Stands Solely in that Place— And Faith—a little trembling Palm— Receives the Robe made White— No Labor stit...

In the days when the hearts of Men were troubled and the burden of their guilt lay heavy upon them, the wise spoke thus among the faithful. They said that in the making right of a sinner before the High Judge, there is but one true source of power: the will of God alone, who is the first and final ...

I hear the lone voice proclaiming across the open fields of doctrine— and I answer it with the long breath of the continent, the stride of the soul! For who speaks of the sinner made right?—I speak! Not by the craft of hands, nor the tally of dutiful deeds, but by the vast and solitary working of t...

Oh, no.

And this would be? Look, folks—people are talking about justification, and frankly, a lot of them don’t know what they’re talking about. They really don’t. Total confusion out there. But we’re going to say it very clearly, maybe clearer than anybody’s ever said it before. When a sinner is justified—...

Kipling? No, Dylan. The preceding was Shakespeare. Kipling would be: If any man should say that the sinner, when he is made right before Heaven, is raised by any hand but God's own; or that the wage of that pardon springs from any treasure but the sacrifice of Christ alone; or that the gift is take...

There is a line from Animal House .... ah, yes ....

Forget it, he's rolling.

If any soul gainsay this sacred truth—that in the sinner’s pardon God alone doth work as sovereign cause, that Christ alone by merit wins the grace, that faith alone, the humble instrument, receives His righteousness; and that all works be banish’d from such claim of cause—efficient, meriting, or f...

Maybe Hotel 2.50.

I get it when the Bishops speak on matters moral and theological. And I get that such matters are intertwined with secular actions and personal actions and collective actions. What I don't get is when the Bishops involve themselves with actions that are essentially political. Please don't respond wi...