Culture and the Sacred

This evening, I’ve been reading some sections from Cardinal Sarah’s latest book The Day is Now Far Spent in which he addresses many contemporary issues.

In a chapter on “Europe’s Crisis”, Cardinal Sarah discusses how a multicultural society can only flourish if there actually is a culture. And, as Josef Pieper explains so well in Leisure the Basis of Culture, culture is always connected to worship, to the sacred. If nothing is sacred within a society, then Cardinal Sarah says, “Relativism feeds on the negation of values in order to establish its deleterious influence” and this negation of values always poses threats to human life. Continue reading “Culture and the Sacred” →

“There near this wall Nazis shot and burned people in 1943-1944”

Having lived in Europe for a couple years and spent time in Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Lithuania, I’ve had the opportunity to see Holocaust memorials in several different countries. Continue reading ““There near this wall Nazis shot and burned people in 1943-1944”” →

Before Notre-Dame burned into flames

On this date last year, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was ablaze in a serious fire.

Three months prior to the fire, my friend Jacqueline and I were visiting the church. Here are my reflections from then: Continue reading “Before Notre-Dame burned into flames” →