I just received my copy today. I ordered it after watching the Pints with Aquinas & Fr. Perricone was the guest. It really does not take much for me to buy a book to read. Now that I have it I can't wait to read it one essay at a time which 565 pages of essays. Has anyone else read this book?

Here is the episode:

Thank you for this. I, too, don't have to be pressured to buy a book; however, if it concerns my faith, I am more than ready to make the move. Fr. Perricone has convinced me. Thanks again.

Mark Fairchild said:

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Thank you for this. I, too, don't have to be pressured to buy a book; however, if it concerns my faith, I am more than ready to make the move. Fr. Perricone has convinced me. Thanks again.

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You are welcome. The table of contents: I Texas. Page 552. I might be buying more for gifts.

If you read no more than pages 5 and 6 you will realize what a treasure you have purchased. Again, thank you!

I must add: he gets The Great State of Texas!

Mark Fairchild said:

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If you read no more than pages 5 and 6 you will realize what a treasure you have purchased. Again, thank you!

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Sorry for the late reply but I had an unscheduled break from posting.

I agree with you on this book and I'm glad you are enjoying it too. Fr. Perricone had me with the first sentence in the PREFACE: All right, I am a thief. I knew from that one sentence that I was going to love his writings.

Again we are in agreement pages 5 & 6. I even purchased the Kindle version so I can highlight and share items I loved. I loved "The Beginning of the End of Recreational Catholicism" which I read this morning.

Pages 5 and 6:

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Always the Same Time can make idiots of us all. Look how promptly a man adopts an aversion to the past, thinking all things having transpired before him to be antique and irrelevant. Nothing can be more demeaning today than to be called behind the times and a position is sure to perish when it is called medieval. Similarly, the same man worships the cult of the future. He intones the word progress with a chorus blaring that only tomorrow will bring something better. Universities compete by pitching themselves as forums for new ideas and science's latest discoveries. The dreaded Dead White European Male is cleansed from curricula simply because he is Yesterday.

There was a time when men of more common sense were vigilant against time's seductions. What mattered most to them was truth, or the permanent things. Time's passage had no claim with them because truth never changes. Most important for each generation was to imitate the best in the one before. Change could only come slowly, because the presumption always favored the past, and the truths upheld there. "Change is absolutely unnecessary, unless it is absolutely necessary to change," said Edmund Burke. He knew that the accumulated reflections of the past are more valuable than the fleeting moment where we happen to stand. Thus tradition.

No longer treasured by men, tradition is compass and light. Walking into the future was never a fear, but walking without eyes is. Tradition is always the eyes of men. Our future is our past because the truth is enshrined there. The Modern sees the past as a heap of skeletons, while men of common sense see the past as living shoulders whereon we stand, the better to see. Truths are owned by no age, they are ageless. But the past, as that splendid torrent of truths, is what makes life both steady and noble.
It is not Darwin and Hegel, with their newest is best evolutionism, that advance civilization, rather it is St. Paul. In First Corinthians he vowed that he could only "deliver to you what I also received" (1 Cor 15:3). He admonished Timothy to "guard what has been entrusted to you" (1 Tim 6:20). No one loves man more than the Church, because it is Her timeless truths which steady man as he bounces from day to day. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow" (Heb 13:8) is the Holy Ghost teaching us that God never changes and His truths don't either. Truth is semper idem...always the same. St. Augustine confirmed this when he exclaimed in the Confessions, "O God, ancient beauty and ever new."

One of the greatest of the Church's princes and Prefect of the Holy Office during the term of three twentieth-century popes, Cardinal Ottaviani, emblazoned Semper Idem on his coat of arms because he loved the truth, as any good Catholic should. We embrace the Semper Idem, not because we hate the new, rather because the only thing that is ever really new is the truth.

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I also love that he has me looking up words & translating Latin. Hopefully we can get others to read the book if not this can be a conversation between you & myself.

I love that I can pick and choose which essay has the subjects that have caused me the most angst. Francis was indeed a difficult papacy and Leo and his appointments of Bishops have caused more concern. The latest being the new Bishop of Laredo, TX. He was heavily involved with Bishop Strickland's removal from the Tyler Diocese.
I took great solace in his essay: "Archbishop Vigano's Letter: Now What?" page 89.

As you can tell, I have latched onto this book with great fervor. I have always thought my vocabulary was pretty proficient; however, like you, I have found the necessity of a current dictionary. This won't hurt me a bit.

Again, thanks for this great resource and the discussion.

I'm an engineer so I will read it front to back but will pick and choose essays after I have completed it. I'm so happy that you are enjoying the essays as much or more than I am.

Agree on Francis & Pope Leo.

I found this book on Pope Leo very helpful and I am following Fr. Perricone's advice praying for Pope Leo daily.

Pope Leo XIV

Here are two books I finished last week. The JPII book is another one that will have you looking up words and translating words. Both of these books are books I will probably reread each year around lent.

I picked this book up at Norte Dame last year:

Teachings for an Unbelieving World: Newly Discovered Reflections on Paul's Sermon at the Areopagus is a book featuring 13 newly discovered reflections written by Karol Wojtya (later Pope John Paul II) around 1965-1966. It explores St. Paul's address to the Athenians (Acts 17) to articulate Catholic faith within a skeptical, communist-influenced culture.

Second book:

If There Is No God: The Battle Over Who Defines Good and Evil, that without a transcendent, objective source for morality, right and wrong are merely matters of personal or societal opinion. He posits that if there is no God to anchor moral truths, human beings inevitably rely on their feelings to make moral judgments, which he views as dangerous and unreliable.

Another book I'm reading is The Memoirs of St. Peter: A new translation of the gospel according to Mark by Michael Pakaluk
Review of the book that nudged me to purchase it.
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2019/03/04/the-immediacy-of-mark-pakaluks-memoirs-of-st-peter/

As you can see I have a book problem. Also if you haven't downloaded the Hallow app you should. I use it daily but one of the features I really love is Catholic AI because it has access to really old documents that will take you down some pretty interesting rabbit holes.

Michael Pakaluk also has a new book, "Mary's Voice in the Gospel According to St. John". Haven't read it yet. Yes, I do have the Hallow app., and there is much to enjoy there. I will look into your suggestions.

This will fall on certain ears as all that is wrong with the Catholic Church, but it must be said that Jesus made a point to shake up the established religious in his day.

Those warnings and parables are just as pertinent today as they were then. The new wine and old wine skins, the warning to the Pharisees about "gate keeping" some out of the temple, the brood of vipers comment, the parable of the older brother and his prodigal brother- and on and on.

Jesus said that no house can stand that is divided. We have to stop labeling this progressive and that traditional. Thomas Aquinas was controversial in his day because he cited from Aristotle, a pagan philosopher. In his time, many theologians just quoted from the fathers instead of presenting a synthesis of their understanding, holy scripture, and the writing of the holy fathers. He wrote that standing on tradition alone was the weakest argument.

Change in our understanding of something does not mean abandoning what we first learned. Rather it can be a refinement of a truth written in scripture than sheds new light on something happening now.

I will have to buy it after I finish my current book. Later this year I have to do some culling on my book shelves to make room for all my new read books.

PabloSerna said:

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This will fall on certain ears as all that is wrong with the Catholic Church, but it must be said that Jesus made a point to shake up the established religious in his day.

Those warnings and parables are just as pertinent today as they were then. The new wine and old wine skins, the warning to the Pharisees about "gate keeping" some out of the temple, the brood of vipers comment, the parable of the older brother and his prodigal brother- and on and on.

Jesus said that no house can stand that is divided. We have to stop labeling this progressive and that traditional. Thomas Aquinas was controversial in his day because he cited from Aristotle, a pagan philosopher. In his time, many theologians just quoted from the fathers instead of presenting a synthesis of their understanding, holy scripture, and the writing of the holy fathers. He wrote that standing on tradition alone was the weakest argument.

Change in our understanding of something does not mean abandoning what we first learned. Rather it can be a refinement of a truth written in scripture than sheds new light on something happening now.

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You should read Fr. Perricone's essays. He's a very deep thinker and a excellent writer.

You may be right, however, based on the excerpt it would appear that he would oppose Aquinas (where I am coming from) on certain aspects of spirituality. I too have a list of books I am working through. But thanks for posting your insights, they are helpful.

PabloSerna said:

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You may be right, however, based on the excerpt it would appear that he would oppose Aquinas (where I am coming from) on certain aspects of spirituality. I too have a list of books I am working through. But thanks for posting your insights, they are helpful.

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32 references of Aquinas

"Tradition is always the eyes of men. Our future is our past because the truth is enshrined there. The Modern sees the past as a heap of skeletons, while men of common sense see the past as living shoulders whereon we stand, the better to see."

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This may be quoted out of context, I would hope so. However at first blush he is making the exact case against a synthesis of real world experience, biblical truth, and written tradition (church fathers) for the pursuit of truth.

Aquinas was one of the first theologians to look outside the church fathers, often quoted without any real understanding, to confront the major questions of his day. We live in a different time, and the questions are ever new. Aquinas said there are two bibles, holy scripture and creation. Two sides of the same coin to understand what is happening in our time. Incorporating science, eastern mysticism, and philosophy together with the writings of the church fathers and holy scripture is not some modernist fad, but a genuine search for truth.

PabloSerna said:

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"Tradition is always the eyes of men. Our future is our past because the truth is enshrined there. The Modern sees the past as a heap of skeletons, while men of common sense see the past as living shoulders whereon we stand, the better to see."

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This may be quoted out of context, I would hope so. However at first blush he is making the exact case against a synthesis of real world experience, biblical truth, and written tradition (church fathers) for the pursuit of truth.

Aquinas was one of the first theologians to look outside the church fathers, often quoted without any real understanding, to confront the major questions of his day. We live in a different time, and the questions are ever new. Aquinas said there are two bibles, holy scripture and creation. Two sides of the same coin to understand what is happening in our time. Incorporating science, eastern mysticism, and philosophy together with the writings of the church fathers and holy scripture is not some modernist fad, but a genuine search for truth.

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I think you are missing reading what he is driving at. Think he is talking about the wisdom of the past.

Quote:

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Our future is our past because the truth is enshrined there.

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If you go back and read what he wrote before

Quote:

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Most important for each generation was to imitate the best in the one before. Change could only come slowly, because the presumption always favored the past, and the truths upheld there. "Change is absolutely unnecessary, unless it is absolutely necessary to change," said Edmund Burke.

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You are doing exactly that by reading Aquinas & others. Fr. Perricone is a very thought provoking writer and his prose keeps your mind engaged. He uses the great words of others in support of his essays. You seem to be well read and much better writer than myself so my guess is that you mind would be more engaged than mine is this stage of my life.

Mark Fairchild said:

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I love that I can pick and choose which essay has the subjects that have caused me the most angst. Francis was indeed a difficult papacy and Leo and his appointments of Bishops have caused more concern. The latest being the new Bishop of Laredo, TX. He was heavily involved with Bishop Strickland's removal from the Tyler Diocese.
I took great solace in his essay: "Archbishop Vigano's Letter: Now What?" page 89.

As you can tell, I have latched onto this book with great fervor. I have always thought my vocabulary was pretty proficient; however, like you, I have found the necessity of a current dictionary. This won't hurt me a bit.

Again, thanks for this great resource and the discussion.

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did you see this?

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Menjivar-Ayala, whose appointment comes a few weeks after the pope's disagreement with Trump over the U.S. war against Iran, will be installed as bishop at a ceremony on July 2. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Menjivar-Ayala's appointment.
Another Latin America-born priest was also named a U.S. bishop on Friday. The Rev. John Gomez will start his tenure in the Diocese of Laredo, Texas, on June 30. Gomez was born in Colombia, came to the United States on a student visa in 2002 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021, according to his current diocese in Tyler, Texas. In a statement, Bishop Gregory Kelly of Tyler praised his "commitment to Hispanic Ministry."

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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/may/1/catholic-priest-criticized-trump-immigration-crackdown-named-west/

From what I have read the new Bishop in Laredo, TX, is also the Vicar General that had a great deal to do with Bishop Strickland being relieved of his Diocese of Tyler. This along with other appointments of Leo XIV, I am not overly impressed. I will have to research Menjvar-Ayala. I am not familiar with him, and therefore have as yet no opinion.

This was first time I heard of him too. So I was hoping you had some information.

"Archbishop Vigano's Letter: Now What?" page 89."

Might get the book for that one essay alone :-)

PabloSerna said:

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"Archbishop Vigano's Letter: Now What?" page 89."

Might get the book for that one essay alone :-)

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Now you're talking. I really think you would like the book. Lots of easy to read so you can put it down & pick it up when ever.

PabloSerna said:

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You may be right, however, based on the excerpt it would appear that he would oppose Aquinas (where I am coming from) on certain aspects of spirituality. I too have a list of books I am working through. But thanks for posting your insights, they are helpful.

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I think this might speak to you:

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Unlikely as it may seem, there is happy news. The Brunis and Dowds, Willses and Mahoneys are all fading into irrelevance. The It Catholics are the hundreds of young habited nuns and cassock-clad priests in their twenties. Upon the Catholic horizon appears a blazing new dawn congested with legions of thirty-something scholars excitedly bringing St. Thomas Aquinas to the Twenty-First Century, and a bursting crop of newly married Catholic couples having armies of babies. Their fidelity and goodness is making the Catholic anti-Catholic a fossil. They are the new sounds of Christ Victorious.

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I picked up the Summa in 1996 and still haven't finished it. Most Catholics, including clergy, don't know the real Thomas Aquinas. He was dedicated to finding the truth- wherever it came from. As he put it, all truth is ultimately from the Holy Spirit. This led him to read and cite non-Christian sources which led to him being censored for years after his death. The King of France had to send guards to protect him from a mob intent on killing him because of his writings.

Aquinas' pursuit of truth is what draws people like me to his writings. I think the new wave of Catholics are being drawn in, not so much because of the beauty of the liturgy and church architecture, but hopefully for this same shared thirst to know the truth. If that is the case, what a wonderful calling!

ETA: I'm currently reading two different books Aquinas related; Sheer Joy by Matthew Fox and Aquinas' commentary of the Gospel of St. John. The commentary is a reworked (by Aquinas himself!) of a "reportario" or student class notes from a series of Lectures he gave while he was a Master. Yes, I too have that book problem.

ETA2: Speaking of "habited nuns", I was speaking with a couple of Dominican nuns at a recent retreat held in Georgetown TX. One of the sisters shared that when she wears her habit in public, it is like a beacon for people to approach her and share their pain. Pain against the church, pain they have suffered, or just pain they feel now. As she put it- she has to make room for prayer with people in pain who see her habit as a visible sign of God's grace. How beautiful!