In Honor of M.L. King Day: Audre Lorde on Truth-Telling

And, finally, in commemoration of today's Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, the following from Audre Lorde's book A Burst of Light (Ithaca, NY: Firebrand, 1988): 

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: "The Chalice of Benediction"

This from a Facebook page linked to mine, a page belonging to a young home-schooling mother who is Catholic.  And Catholic again.  Catholic added to Catholic.

Catholic Diocesan Money and SNAP: Goliath, Meet David

As the recent National Catholic Reporter editorial defending SNAP in the Missouri subpoena situation about which I blogged on the weekend notes, SNAP is a modestly funded organization that is run on a shoestring budget and mostly by volunteers.   Its total operating budget for a year is around $350,000.  

Will Doig on Rising Population of Feral Dogs and Cats in U.S. Cities: Apocalypse Now

There's something approaching the apocalyptic in the story Will Doig tells at Salon last Saturday about the growing population of feral dogs and cats in many American cities (and in cities around the world).  In particular, what the story says about the kind of civilization we're becoming strikes me as well-nigh apocalyptic.

Controversy Over Statue of JPII in Rome: A New Head to Be Supplied

This isn't specifically a dropping from the Catholic birdcage, but it does strike me as almost birdcage-worthy: Alessandro Speciale reports for Religion News Service that people in Rome are worried about John Paul II's head.  Not the real head, you understand.  His head on a statue outside the main railway station in Rome.  

Seven Questions about the Tebow Phenomenon: My Two Cents' Worth

My two cents (and they're not worth much, I feel pretty sure) on the Tim Tebow phenomenon, in the form of questions:

A Reader Writes: Post-Constantinean Catholics Look for Persuasion, not Force

Donation of Constantine, Sylvester Chapel, Santi Quatro Coronati, Rome

Several days ago, a reader, Evagrius, made a valuable comment in response to my posting about re-claiming the moral center of Catholicism in the public square.  I'd like to lift Evagrius's comment from the combox following that posting and post it as a stand-alone posting so that more readers may benefit from it.