Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

It's interesting that so many non-churchgoing readers are interested in Jesus, disheartening that they're so Biblically illiterate. Still, given the success he's had dismissing the premise of the New Testament as a fraud, perhaps Dan Brown could try writing a revisionist biography of acclaimed prophet Muhammad. Just a thought. - Mark Steyn

Just as Pope John Paul II permitted some of the ugliness and weakness of age to be put on view, the better to witness to its inherent dignity, perhaps the Holy See, and orders such as the Legionaries, can risk more candor about the ugliness and weakness of their human endeavors, the better to witness to God's grace at work. - Diogenes at "Catholic World Report"

And divine grace is the inestimable treasure through which vile creatures and servants like ourselves become dear friends of our Creator. -St. Alphonsus

One of the concerns today in having children seems to be the idea that we have to provide and plan for the material needs of our children, particularly with regard to a college education. The best clothes, the nicest shoes, their own room, expensive education etc. I do not believe that worrying about these material goods is the message of the Jesus Christ. (Matthew 6:25: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?")...That's not to say that education isn't important..but rather that as parents, our main goal for our time with our children is to teach them to be ready to meet Jesus, to develop their talents in a way that will be pleasing to God, and to live a life that gives Him glory. Anything else, is just extra. - Elena of "My Domestic Church"

The [Da Vinci Code's] poor quality changes nothing about the impact that the book has had. And sneer if you like, it has had an impact, especially in terms of confirming the rather widespread conviction that the events of the 1st century are essentially unknowable, and the Jesus story that "won" did so because of politics. History is written by the winners, and so on. But what have we learned? I hope we've learned that 1) Given the right push and inspiration, people will discover an interest in the historical core of Christianity. 2) There is widespread, abysmal ignorance about that historical core among the general public as well as among Christians Why the ignorance? Because no one teaches it. - Amy Welborn

While typing that about the weakness of [Flannery] O'Connor's characters, I thought, "Why doesn't she write any nice stories with happy endings? Well, there's "Revelation." I think I need to read another author for a while. Not Gene Wolfe, either.) - blogger at "Opiniatrety"

On the occasions I feel like shocking people, I've sometimes adopted a cynical pose out of The Onion's news article "American People Declared Unfit to Rule." There is of course a great deal to dislike about my fellow Americans. In my more hypocritical moments I imagine more to dislike about them than to dislike about myself. - Kevin Jones of Philokia

During the last couple of days the majority of Catholic blogs have linked to negative reviews of The Da Vinci Code movie, kind of a gloat bloat has appeared. It of course makes us quite happy that the film is a stinker since less people will be influenced negatively by it, or that the film makes Dan Brown's propositions even dumber (if that's possible). I think something else is going on though. What if Methodist Ron Howard took one for the team? After all is he a quite capable, though not great, director. What if he purposely gave the movie the Springtime for Hitler treatment? That he purposely made the movie bad. By doing the movie himself he insures that no one else will make it anytime soon. - Curt Jester

[What] did Jesus have in mind when He spoke in terms of "whatever you ask" [it will be granted to you]? Some have proposed a tautological scope along the lines of "requests that God will grant," the idea being that Jesus' promise is given only to those who remain in Him, and by definition those who remain in Jesus wouldn't ask for anything God wouldn't want to give them. But while that may be true -- as I've mentioned, tautologies do tend to be true -- it's not particularly helpful in understanding what Jesus means. Another approach is by using [a] set of increasingly-limited scopes: all requests, moral requests, pious requests, P.O.D. requests, and "Thy Will Be Done"...Let me propose two reasons "Thy Will Be Done" is too limited. First, it would imply that by, "If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it," Jesus means, "You won't ask anything of me." That's an unnatural interpretation...that would need to be applied all four times Jesus makes this promise in John 14-16. While it's certainly true that God will always answer that prayer, the words Jesus uses do not mean God will always answer only that prayer...The model of a Christian as a passive instrument in the hands of God -- which I'd say is equivalent to the proposal that a Christian ought to pray only "Thy Will Be Done" -- conflicts with the reality that we are called to be, not God's tools, but His children. We are subjects of His love, not merely useful goods but (by His grace) good in ourselves. If we lack all personal will, we lack all eros; God's agape will find nothing to adhere to in us...A loving human family tends to a single will, conceptually speaking. The whole family knows the father personally enjoys an afternoon nap, say, so the whole family wills that the father take an afternoon nap. - Tom of Disputations

[Eamon] Duffy is the English historian known to many, even over here, for his groundbreaking Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580, in which he very effectively set the widespread assumption that pre-Reformation England was a swamp of ignorance, superstition and even religious indifference - completely on its head. [Faith of Our Fathers] reflects Duffy's historical groundings as he takes us through various aspects of Catholic belief, examining foundations, eyeing changes. It's excellent. Personal, in a way, as he traces his own loss and rediscovery of faith (appropriate David Lodge references abound) - and the rediscovery of faith for Duffy always means a deeper appreciation of the 1950's Catholicism which he rejected.... The chapter on dying concerns the old notion of dying as not something that happens to you, but rather, as something you do. A "good death" was not, as we might assume, one that's easy and effortless, but one in which the dying person is prepared, in which he or she seeks to imitate Christ in his dying. - Amy Welborn