The Intellectual Revival and the Aftermath of Vatican II
Between 1920 and 1960, after the first phase of the Modernist crisis was over, there was an astounding Catholic intellectual revival, encompassing the work of people ranging from Frank Sheed to Sigrid Undset. It is amazing to me that with such a storehouse of genius, after the Council things went to heck in a handbasket. To the chagrine of many (but unfortunately not all) of those who were the main players in the revival. How does one explain (without referring to Genesis 3) how such marvelous work bore so little obvious fruit in the dominent "intellectual" work of the first 20 years after the Council? It was like the work went dormant for 20 years and then slowly arose from its slumber to influence a new generation (me). Perhaps we could blame it on bad ICEL translations. But then you'd have to explain how the ICEL translation could be so bad in the first place -- and survive for 32 years! Romanitas, I guess.

Why Stay Catholic?
I recently wrote to a friend who was thinking of converting to Orthodoxy with my 127 reasons for staying Catholic. Here they are:

Karl Adam, Mortimer Adler, Lorenzo Albacete, Francis Arinze, Benedict Ashley, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Hillaire Belloc, Robert Hugh Benson, George Bernanos, Maurice Blondel, Louis Bouyer, David Burrell, Frances Cabrini, Odo Casel, Charles Chaput, G.K. Chesterton, Walter Ciszek, Paul Claudel, Yves Congar, Frederick Copleston, Jean Danielou, Henri Daniel-Rops, Christopher Dawson, Dorothy Day, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Jude Dougherty, Avery Dulles, Shusaku Endo, Josemarie Escriva, Joseph Fessio, Paul Hanly Furfey, Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Raymond Gawronski, Francis George, Etienne Gilson, Luigi Giussani, Mary Ann Glendon, Aelred Graham, Léonce de Grandmaison, Graham Greene, Benedict Groeschel, Romano Guardini, John Hardon, Dietrich von Hildebrand, James Hitchcock, Russell Hittinger, Caryll Houselander, Stanley Jaki, Pope John Paul II, John Paul II, Pope John XXIII, Mark Johnson, Johannes Jorgensen, Charles Journet, Walter Kasper, Russell Kirk, Ronald Knox, Maximilian Kolbe, Joseph Koterski, Faustina Kowalska, Peter Kreeft, William Kurz, Thomas Langan, Janine Langen, Rene Laurentin, Pope Leo XIII, Ignace Lepp, Henri de Lubac, Gabriel Marcel, Jacques Maritain, Raissa Maritain, Therese Martin, William May, Ralph McInerny, Marschall McLuhan, Thomas Merton, Kevin Miller, Mother Teresa, Malcolm Muggeridge, John Courtney Murray, Richard John Neuhaus, John Henry Cardinal Newman, Aidan Nichols, Flannery O'Connor, John O'Connor, Pope Paul VI, Anton Pegis, Charles Peguy, Walker Percy, Marie-Dominique Philippe, Josef Pieper, Padre Pio, Saint Pius X, Pope Pius XII, Miriam Pollard, Jessica Powers, Johannes Quasten, Hugo Rahner, Karl Rahner, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Oscar Romero, James Schall, Max Scheler, David Schindler, Christoff Schoenborn, E.F. Schumacher, Frank Sheed, Fulton Sheen, Janet Smith, Robert Sokolowski, Edith Stein, Karl Stern, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sigrid Undset, Maisie Ward, Evelyn Waugh, John Wayne, George Weigel, Oscar Wilde, Robert Wilken, Christopher Wolfe, John C.H. Wu, Hubert von Zeller.

And that is incomplete and only covers the 20th century!

After months of reading the great blogs out there I've decided to see if I have the time and patience to do it myself. Unlike most current blogs, I will steer clear of current events and contemporary issues and focus exclusively on great Catholic literature. In other words, I'm going to comment on whatever I'm reading at the time. I may even comment on non-Catholic classics and even a movie or two occassionally. Plus maybe some thoughts on the theological significance of Gilligan's Island.