Weekend Thoughts

Greetings Everyone,

I just got my new issue of Catholic Men's Quarterly in the mail this week. I have to say that Im very impressed with the improved layout and design quality. The stuff they actually wrote about was terrific as well.

I like CMQ's focus on masculine spirituality, and particularly their features of Saints from military or missionary backgrounds. This quarter they did an excellent feature set during the Viking Age.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite time periods, and I think Chesterton spent some mental energy there as well. Ballad of the White Horse has become one of the books that I am constantly re-reading. This area fascinates me in many ways. The Crusades/Inquisitions/Gallileos and all of the other things which complicate later periods were yet to happen. What we have at this time is no bureaucracy, no true nations, no real civilizations, just the stark heroism and holiness of true Saints whose lot in life was even worse than St. Paul - he at least got to preach in Athens and Rome, among civilized people. I really feel lacking that I dont know more about St. Patrick, St. Brendan, St. Adalbert(?) St. Bede and the others of this time. The names seem antique to us, and this is unfortunate.

The History Channel recently had a feature on Alfred the Great, and I think they did as good a job as they are capable when dealing with a Christian figure. I dont know if Chesterton ever made a direct connection between our (his) times and the era where paganism and Christianity vied against each other as active forces, but I think Somebody said Something about a "New Evangelization" which hits the mark.