Rick Santorum and Joe Paterno: two tragic American tales

Reprinted on RenewAmerica and Spero News.

I said many, many times that one of the reasons Joe was hanging on to that position is because if he left, he’d die...I knew Joe very well, and it was a very tragic tale, his last few months...tragic that a life so well lived and someone who had made such a great contribution to sports and to our culture would have the end of his life end in such a sad way. -Rick Santorum

The official cause of death for the legendary Penn State coach, Joe Paterno, was complications from lung cancer, but I think former Penn State player and current ESPN broadcaster, Todd Blackledge, was more to the heart of the matter when he said "Joe Pa" "died of a broken heart." GOP presidential candidate and Penn State alum, Rick Santorum, elaborated on this theme when Paterno passed away yesterday, a date already made more than tragic as the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the beginning of the end of our Republic.

Santorum forum pt VI: the truth and the South Carolina showdown

Reprinted on Spero News and RenewAmerica.

I beat Governor Romney very clearly [in polls] head to head. It's not just about coalescing around a conservative, but coalescing around a conservative who can win. -Senator Rick Santorum

Rick is right. -Governor Mitt Romney, responding to one of Santorum's statements during the South Carolina debate

It's one thing when Rick Santorum is declared second--by eight votes--in Iowa despite widespread claims of vote fraud. It's yet another when the news stations say Santorum placed fifth in New Hampshire (behind fellow conservative Newt Gingrich) when the official tally later finds Rick finished fourth, ahead of Newt. But when Governor Huntsman drops out and Santorum still gets a sixth of the questions (in the South Carolina debate) in a five-man field, you start to wonder if the conspiracy; the Catholic conspiracy, is also "game on."

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration chapels: their place in our busy world

To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love and a duty of adoration to Christ our Lord (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 1418 from Paul V Mysterium Fidei).

The church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to meet Him in adoration in contemplation full of faith and open to making amends for serious offenses . . . of the world. Let our adoration never cease (CCC1380 from John Paul II Dominicae Cenae).

If you have read the section on the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, you most certainly have been struck by the passage that says the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life," "the sum and summary of our Faith" (CCC 1324, 1327). While it all sounds great, keeping it the source of our Christian life is another story; by midweek the lesson of the Sunday liturgy is ancient history, and even if you are fortunate enough to attend a morning Mass on weekdays, the remembrance of the daily bread is often a distant memory by nightfall. So to keep "our way of thinking attuned to the Eucharist" (CCC 1327), more and more parishes are offering a booster dose of what St. Irenaeus called "the medicine of immortality" by keeping the Sacred species exposed in the sacred spaces known as Perpetual Adoration Chapels.

The Santorum forum pt V: a 'Rocky' hope for New Hampshire?

Reprinted on RenewAmerica and Spero News.

In the days of doubts, in the days of oppressive reflections concerning the destiny of my native land, you alone are my strength and staff, O great, mighty, true and free...if you were not, how could one do anything but fall into despair at the sight of all that has taken place in our homeland? -Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev

While I will not be continuing in this race...I thank the Lord God Almighty and this republic...I will always believe in the greatness of [America] and the greatness of our God. -Michele Bachmann, from her concession speech

Game on. -Rick Santorum, after his "tie" in Iowa

As stunning as Rick Santorum's miraculous "second place" finish (the unofficial total had Santorum losing by a mere eight votes, although another caucus source, citing Romney shenanigans, had Santorum up by twelve) in Iowa was, the former senator had little time to celebrate if he hoped to replicate his David v. Goliath feat in the far less friendly (to Christians anyway) state of New Hampshire. The good news; that Bachmann dropped out, that Santorum's national numbers were rising, and that his campaign (after struggling to take in a few thousand a week) was now raking in a million dollars a day, was dwarfed by the fact Rick Perry stayed in, Romney was still up in New Hampshire by thirty points, and Mitt often spent a million dollars a day before breakfast. The game may be on, but the oppressive "days of doubt" had just begun.