Luke and Victoria discuss Humanae Vitae on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, and how the document – along with the acceptance and rejection of it – has affected their lives.

Read Humanae Vitae at The Holy See website.

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Luke & Kiara discuss St Thérèse of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul, the beauty of the Communion of Saints, and the heresy of Jansenism.

Read Story of a Soul on Project Gutenberg.

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Victoria, Luke and Kiara discuss Natalia Sanmartín Fenollera’s The Awakening of Miss Primm, the beauty of San Ireneo, and the importance of truly personal communication and community.

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Luke and Victoria explore Benedict XVI’s Last Testament, discussing his ability to maintain charity under immense criticism, and the sense of integrity of freedom in himself which comes through the text.

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Victoria and Luke explore Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, looking at the battle between sense and sensibility, how the book reflects us back to ourselves, and what St Thérèse of Lisieux teaches us about these characteristics.

Read Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility on Project Gutenberg.

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Luke and Victoria discuss The Cross and the Switchblade, David Wilkerson’s refreshing radicality, and how it can help Catholics to trust in the power of God.

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Kiara, Victoria and Luke discuss Julius Caesar’s The Conquest of Gaul, Caesar’s matter-of-fact writing style and the hints of this style seen in later great authors.

Read Julius Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico on Project Gutenberg.

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In this episode, Victoria, Luke and Kiara discuss John O’Brien’s The Trimmin’s on the Rosary, how they can relate to the vignettes on the Rosary presented in the poem, and the Irish maternal origins of Australian Catholicism.

The Trimmin's on the Rosary (Full Text)

Ah, the memories that find me now my hair is turning gray,
Drifting in like painted butterflies from paddocks far away;
Dripping dainty wings in fancy-and the pictures, fading fast,
Stand again in rose and purple in the album of the past.
There’s the old slab dwelling dreaming by the wistful, watchful trees,
Where the coolabahs are listening to the stories of the breeze;
There’s a homely welcome beaming from its big, bright friendly eyes,
With The Sugarloaf behind it blackened in against the skies;
There’s the same dear happy circle round the boree’s cheery blaze
With a little Irish mother telling tales of other days.
She had one sweet, holy custom which I never can forget,
And a gentle benediction crowns her memory for it yet;
I can see that little mother still and hear her as she pleads,
“Now it’s getting on to bed-time; all you childer get your beads.”
There were no steel-bound conventions in that old slab dwelling free;
Only this-each night she lined us up to say the Rosary;
E’en the stranger there, who stayed the night upon his journey, knew
He must join the little circle, ay, and take his decade too.
I believe she darkly plotted, when a sinner hove in sight
Who was known to say no prayer at all, to make him stay the night.
Then we’d softly gather round her, and we’d speak in accents low,
And pray like Sainted Dominic so many years ago;
And the little Irish mother’s face was radiant, for she knew
That “where two or three are gathered” He is gathered with them too.
O’er the paters and the aves how her reverent head would bend!
How she’d kiss the cross devoutly when she counted to the end!
And the visitor would rise at once, and brush his knees-and then
He’d look very, very foolish as he took the boards again.
She had other prayers to keep him. They were long, long prayers in truth;
And we used to call them “Trimmin’s” in my disrespectful youth.
She would pray for kith and kin, and all the friends she’d ever known,
Yes, and everyone of us could boast a “trimmin”‘ all his own.
She would pray for all our little needs, and every shade of care
That might darken o’er The Sugarloaf, she’d meet it with a prayer.
She would pray for this one’s “sore complaint,” or that one’s “hurted hand,”
Or that someone else might make a deal and get “that bit of land”;
Or that Dad might sell the cattle well, and seasons good might rule,
So that little John, the weakly one, might go away to school.
There were trimmin’s, too, that came and went; but ne’er she closed without
Adding one for something special “none of you must speak about.”
Gentle was that little mother, and her wit would sparkle free,
But she’d murder him who looked around while at the Rosary:
And if perchance you lost your beads, disaster waited you,
For the only one she’d pardon was “himself”-because she knew
He was hopeless, and ’twas sinful what excuses he’d invent,
So she let him have his fingers, and he cracked them as he went,
And, bedad, he wasn’t certain if he’d counted five or ten,
Yet he’d face the crisis bravely, and would start around again;
But she tallied all the decades, and she’d block him on the spot,
With a “Glory, Daddah, Glory!” and he’d “Glory” like a shot.
She would portion out the decades to the company at large;
But when she reached the trimmin’s she would put herself in charge;
And it oft was cause for wonder how she never once forgot,
But could keep them in their order till she went right through the lot.
For that little Irish mother’s prayers embraced the country wide;
If a neighbour met with trouble, or was taken ill, or died,
We could count upon a trimmin’-till, in fact, it got that way
That the Rosary was but trimmin’s to the trimmin’s we would say.
Then “himself” would start keownrawning*-for the public good, we thought-
“Sure you’ll have us here till mornin’. Yerra, cut them trimmin’s short!”
But she’d take him very gently, till he softened by degrees-
“Well, then, let us get it over. Come now, all hands to their knees.”
So the little Irish mother kept her trimmin’s to the last,
Every growing as the shadows o’er the old selection passed;
And she lit our drab existence with her simple faith and love,
And I know the angels lingered near to bear her prayers above,
For her children trod the path she trod, nor did they later spurn
To impress her wholesome maxims on their children in their turn.
Ay, and every “sore complaint” came right, and every “hurted hand”;
And we made a deal from time to time, and got “that bit of land”;
And Dad did sell the cattle well; and little John, her pride,
Was he who said the Mass in black the morning that she died;
So her gentle spirit triumphed-for ’twas this, without a doubt,
Was the very special trimmin’ that she kept so dark about.
. . . . .

But the years have crowded past us, and the fledglings all have flown,
And the nest beneath The Sugarloaf no longer is their own;
For a hand has written “finis” and the book is closed for good-
Here’s a stately red-tiled mansion where the old slab dwelling stood;
There the stranger has her “evenings,” and the formal supper’s spread,
But I wonder has she “trimmin’s” now, or is the Rosary said?
Ah, those little Irish mothers passing from us one by one!
Who will write the noble story of the good that they have done?
All their children may be scattered, and their fortunes windwards hurled,
But the Trimmin’s on the Rosary will bless them round the world.

[* grumbling grousing]

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore G.K. Chesterton’s Heretics. The team particularly look at G.K. Chesterton’s commentary on the need to love our neighbour as a person, not an abstraction – whether we like them or not.

Read G.K. Chesterton’s “Heretics” on Project Gutenberg.

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss Mark Shea’s Work of Mercy. The team look at how the Works of Mercy highlight the Incarnational and very physical aspect of Christ’s Coming, and the radicality of Christian love and mercy.

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In this episode, Luke and Victoria react to Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess, discussing Browning’s technique for creating considerable tension in the poem.

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc, the story of the great French saint, and why it is one of Kiara’s favourite books.

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore the notion of humility in approaching hard Church teachings, prayer for celebrities, and Kiara’s own conversion from atheism.

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To find out more about Jennifer Fulwiler, visit JenniferFulwiler.com.

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In this episode, Luke and Victoria discuss the Challenge to the Privy Council, the life and martyrdom of St Edmund Campion, and how the document shows him to be a great model of the priesthood.

Content advisory: This podcast discusses methods of torture and execution.

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara & Victoria discuss Letter From Birmingham Jail, exploring the influence of Martin Luther King Jr’s Christian faith on his work, and the letter’s universal lessons for non-violent action.

Content advisory: This podcast discusses violence, and racial violence in particular.

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara & Victoria explore Roger Scruton’s Pleasure vs Happiness. In particular, the team discuss Scruton’s distinction between pleasure and happiness, and the lack of beauty in contemporary art.

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Read Pleasure vs Happiness by Roger Scruton. The team use this version of the essay in their discussion.

Read a slightly different version of the essay: “Celebrity fun vs scared joy” at The Spectator.

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara & Victoria look at The Lady of Shalott, discussing the difference between artist and artisan, the poem’s focus on medieval technique, and what the team got out of the text.

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In this episode, Luke & Kiara discuss A Study in Scarlet, exploring the character of Sherlock Holmes, the treatment of the LDS church in the story, and the text’s influence up to today.

Content advisory: This episode discusses murder and violence.

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In this episode, Luke & Victoria explore Macbeth, discussing free will and predestination, the consequences of sin in the order of nature, and true masculinity & femininity.

Content advisory: This episode discusses murder and violence.

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In this episode, Luke, Kiara & Victoria discuss George Bernard Shaw and the controversial ending to Pygmalion.

Content advisory: This episode briefly refers to domestic abuse.

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Luke and Victoria look at Ovid’s fables of Echo and Narcissus, discussing Metamorphoses‘ mytho-historical format and C.S. Lewis’ theory that the fables are meant to be a form of satire.

Content advisory: This episode briefly refers to adultery.

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The team reflect on From Union Square to Rome, discussing the simplicity of Dorothy Day’s conversion, her love for the working poor, and the approach to some of those who reject organised religion.

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Read From Union Square to Rome at the Catholic Worker Movement website.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore Brave New World to discuss the removal of humanity in pursuit of a misguided perfection, and whether our society is becoming desensitised to the negative and shocking aspects of the “brave new world”.

Content advisory: This episode discusses abortion and artificial reproductive technology, and briefly mentions substance addiction and pornography.

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In this 50th episode, Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, how it relates to contemporary society and identity, and an instance of a bad Victorian pun.

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Content advisory: This episode briefly mentions suicide.

If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Luke and Victoria reflect on Eugine Onegin with reference to its complex poetry, “the Russian Soul”, and Luke and Victoria’s differing reactions to the work.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss The Gift of the Magi by reflecting upon the mutual gift of self in marriage, and how narration can invite the reader into the lives of characters in literature.

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Read The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss A Christmas Carol by looking at the Victorian relationship between superstition and positivism, and the notion that Charles Dickens popularised a secularised observance of Christmas.

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Read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

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In this second episode, Luke, Kiara and Victoria look at the banal austerity of evil, as well as the temptations to isolation and spiritual pride.

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In this first episode, Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss C.S. Lewis’ self-criticism within The Screwtape Letters, and why he never wrote a sequel.

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Luke Kiara and Victoria discuss the satisfying schadenfreude of The Importance of Being Earnest, as well as the problem of truthfulness & lying.

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Luke and Victoria discuss the disconnect between thought and word, being “born on third base” and whether frankness is a virtue.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss the importance of the author, and Hopkins’ contribution to poetry through sprung rhythm and the curtal sonnet.

Read Gerard Manley Hopkins’ Pied Beauty.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore the problems with radical skepticism, and what our features as humans show us about how we should approach the world.

Read G.K. Chesterton’s The Extraordinary Cabman.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss Ven. Fulton Sheen’s thoughts on scandal in the Church, and what scandal says about the nature of the Church.

Correction: Pope Alexander VI is mistakenly referred to as “Pope Alexander IV”.

Read Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s Scandals.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for Children, discussing the absurd comedy of the text and the incongruity theory of humour.

Read Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for Children.

Read Edward Feser’s “Is it funny because it’s true?”.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explain Pope Francis’ call to get back to reality, and how we must above all change ourselves.

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Read Laudato Si’.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss an elephant named Climate Change, the rupture of humanity and nature, and its effect on our view of people and the world.

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Read Laudato Si’.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to find out about love, marriage, and the early seeds of British comedy.

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Read William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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Kiara, Luke and Victoria tackle T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, exploring the often convoluted language and style – and the unique power of poetry.

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Read T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.

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Kiara, Luke and Victoria explore H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, discussing whether a political message can break suspension of belief, the resilience of human dignity in the face of social theory, and the foreshadowing of time travel in dialogue structure.

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Read H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine.

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Kiara, Luke and Victoria discuss The Brothers Grimm’s Cinderella, exploring its good lessons and curious features, including a reflection on adaptations.

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Read The Brothers Grimm’s Cinderella.

Read Fr Robert Barron’s Kenneth Branagh’s Very Christian Cinderella.

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Kiara, Luke and Victoria explore the implications of the poem for modern folk, especially for the average Catholic trying to make sense of the senseless destruction of young life.

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Read Dulce Et Decorum Est.

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This time, Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss The Great Divorce by looking at the individual characters, and how they are afflicted with the common temptations to flee the love and mercy of God in Heaven.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss The Great Divorce in the first of two parts, exploring Lewis’ presentation of Heaven, Hell and purgatory; and comparing the action and passion of pity.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria dive in to Leave it to Jeeves, exploring the sitcom-before-the-sitcom, and the (often humourous) difference of communication between men and women.

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Read Leave it to Jeeves.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore Banjo Paterson’s The Man From Snowy River, discussing the Australian culture featured in the poem, the heroic nature of the protagonist, and whether “the man” himself was a Catholic.

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Read The Man From Snowy River.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, exploring the difference between film and books as media, the glamour of evil, and the richness of culture as found in Tolkien’s world.

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References within this episode:
Read Peter Kreeft’s lecture on Identity and The Lord of the Rings.
Read Corey Olsen’s article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Why J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ Isn’t Just For Kids”.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore at Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, looking at the shortcomings of a purely economic approach to the human person, the purpose of satire, and whether large families are to blame for poverty in the developing world.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria look at Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, discussing the pitfalls of (quasi) first-person narrative, racial discourse without and surrounding the text, and why you should almost never use the term “In Africa…”.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, explaining the ironic commercialisation of Christmas, the text’s fantastic qualities for children (and adults), and how anyone of any character can undergo a conversion.

LISTEN NOW (27:13)

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Luke and Victoria discuss G.K. Chesterton’s On Lying in Bed, exploring multiculturalism, the right to life, and leisure as a truly human pursuit.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven, discussing the lessons of life, the endurance of love, and the Catholic understanding of heaven and its relationship to life here on earth.

LISTEN NOW (45:02)

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, touching on melancholy in poetry, possible influences on the poem, and the ability of art predict the direction of philosophy and history.

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Read Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven

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Today Oscar Wilde is perhaps better known in popular culture for his alternative lifestyle than his writings – but The Selfish Giant reveals some very Christian insights into the mind of a man who converted to Catholicism on his deathbed.

Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant, discussing innocence, beauty, the Divine and the 19th Century aesthetic movement.

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Read Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant

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19th Century American author Kate Chopin is considered a forerunner for 20th Century feminist writers, yet her short story Regret presents a message which is does not completely fit typically ideas about feminism.

Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss Kate Chopin’s Regret, touching on themes of vocation, motherhood, and the beauty that can be found in an abundance of life.

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Read Kate Chopin’s Regret

Read the mentioned blog-post “Buying a cookie from Whole Foods”, by Jennifer Fulwiler

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W.B. Yeats is a giant of 20th Century literature, winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923. One of his shorter poems is Adam’s Curse – which presents his thoughts on the artistic process.

Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore W.B. Yeats’ Adam’s Curse, discussing the unusual structure of the poem and its commentary on beauty, whether beauty will truly fade away with time, and if effort in human works is a result of the Fall.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss The Princess and the Goblin; exploring the fairy tale’s use of imagination, the presentation of God’s Grace in the lives of two children, and how a great-great grandmother teaches us about the Virgin Mary and true femininity.

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Luke and Kiara “fly duo” with The Wife of Bath’s Tale; discovering how the medievals were the opposite of prudish, how Chaucer may have satirised the philosophical view of women in his time, and why such a view was contradicted by the actual experience of women in medieval society.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria dive in to The Communist Manifesto; exploring how the document fails in its understanding of the human person, whether having wealth is inherently evil, and whether trade unions can be a force for good.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore The Great Gatsby; discussing how Fitzgerald’s narrative style highlights two complementary ways in which we can know people, how the Catholicism which Fitzgerald rejected continued to influence his work, and how the novel exposes the anguish and vapidity underneath the glamour of the Roaring Twenties.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria dive into The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; exploring the text’s ubiquitousness in Western culture, Adams’ mastery of British comedy, and even some hints of Theology found underneath the surface…

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria look at The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas; providing commentary on the mysterious narrative perspective, the problem of viewing sin as benign suffering, and how Catholic teaching looks to a third way in many moral and ethical dilemmas.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; discussing the overtly Catholic culture of the poem, pondering the virtuous nature of the protagonist, and attempting to read Middle English on air – with questionable results.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria dive in to J.R.R. Tolkien’s short story Leaf by Niggle, and discuss the creative process and its greater meaning, how beauty can emerge out of suffering, and what we can learn from Tolkien’s refusal to compartmentalise the facets of his life.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore this detective thriller to discuss Chesterton’s ability to “paint with words”, the poetry of order in the world, and why Catholicism provides the ultimate rebellion against the law of entropy.

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Listen to Dr Robert Tilley’s An Atheist Appreciation of Chesterton on Cradio.

Read Marc Barnes’ Better than Nothing on Bad Catholic.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria dig in to the infamous story of witchcraft, hysteria, adultery, and vengeance to explore Arthur Miller’s striking presentation of redemption and marriage.

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You can find the primary and secondary sources mentioned by Kiara on the Salem witch trials at the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria tackle O’Connor’s most well-known short story by looking at the notions of Grace & tragedy, “Golden Age” syndrome, and the tale’s infamous ending.

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Luke and Victoria explore this tale of survival and savagery in this episode, discussing how people (and morality) survive without civilisation, the root evil of pride in all sin, and the Biblical origins of the name Lord of the Flies.

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In delving in to the dystopian classic, Luke, Kiara and Victoria explore why man-made ethical systems ultimately fail, how Orwell’s cutting satire speaks about our own culture, and how a stirring revolutionary anthem can be set to the tune of La Cucaracha.

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Luke, Kiara and Victoria discuss why faith is more than feelings, how The Trinity is like a dance which He created us to participate in, and why through Christ’s Incarnation and Death we become part of God’s Divine Life.

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This time Luke, Kiara and Victoria delve in to the virtues which guide proper Christian behaviour, the difference between psychoanalysis and morality, and how attaining virtue can be a case of “fake it ’til you make it”…

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This week Luke, Kiara and Victoria look at C.S. Lewis’ commentary on the competing concepts and caricatures of of God, how a good God is consistent with our human experience of evil, and why God became Man two thousand years ago…

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The post Catholics Read Mere Christianity: Part II appeared first on Cradio.

In this episode of Catholics Read: Luke, Kiara and Victoria dive in to the first book of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. The team explore the beginning of the Christian classic by discussing the background to the book, how our human behaviour brings us to the notion of God, and why Lewis’ criticism of the “march of progress” is relevant even to our own day.

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The post Catholics Read Mere Christianity: Part I appeared first on Cradio.