Friday 24th January 2020

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Virginia Takes Center Stage As Democrats Take Control

January 4, 2020 Frontpage Comments Off on Virginia Takes Center Stage As Democrats Take Control

By CHRISTOPHER MANION Washington, D.C., usually gets the most attention from the political class, but 2020 might see the Commonwealth of Virginia taking center stage. Vladimir Lenin called his magazine “Iskra” — the “Spark.” And, while scholars can easily trace the causes of past revolutions, they find it much more difficult to predict when the “spark” will light the fuse of the next one. A year ago, few would have expected Virginia to merit the nation’s attention. Its scandals were local in color. Pictures of Governor Ralph Northam in blackface, alongside a man arrayed in full Ku Klux Klan regalia, appeared in February. Soon thereafter, blackface pictures of Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring also surfaced. If that weren’t bad enough,…Continue Reading

Is Philosophy Dead?

January 3, 2020 Frontpage Comments Off on Is Philosophy Dead?

Culture changes. We bid goodbye to somethings and welcome others. We do not miss the hula hoop or Nehru jackets, but we cannot do without email and compact discs. Most unfortunately, however, in the kaleidoscope of change, somethings that are indispensable are squeezed out. I am speaking here of the untimely dismissal of philosophy as the love of wisdom. Is philosophy really dead? The late Professor Lewis Samuel Feuer, a sociologist and professor emeritus of the University of Virginia, put it bluntly, “American philosophy is dead.” His stark pronouncement was reported in The New York Times, though not in the obituary column. The situation is “peculiar and even strange,” observed the distinguished philosopher Josef Pieper in The Future of Thomism…Continue Reading

All I Want For Christmas…

December 30, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on All I Want For Christmas…

By DEACON MIKE MANNO, JD I think some of my fondest memories of my childhood center around Christmas. My dad always decorated the outside of the house, mom did the inside, and we always had a fresh green tree purchased from our parish’s Christmas tree lot. We’d have two weeks of school vacation and even the nuns — God love them — were in an extra good mood; in other words, no homework. We’d always go to the midnight Mass, come home and open family presents and then head to bed — not that we could sleep — and wait for Santa to bring the rest of our haul; and our haul was always pretty good. Kids were with their…Continue Reading

Why Worship God?

December 29, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Why Worship God?

BY JOE SIXPACK Personally, I think there are two things all Christians should be able to prove — especially Protestants. Our separated brethren claim strict adherence to the Bible as the end-all-be-all of divine Revelation, believing it to be the “inspired” word of God, yet none of them know how to prove the Bible is inspired. Well, I think they should have to prove that. Catholics too, for that matter. That is something we will cover in a future article. There is yet another thing all Christians should be able to prove . . . especially us. Perhaps one of the most puzzling things for me about most modern Christians is, they worship Someone they can’t prove. Obviously they all…Continue Reading

Christmas Cake, Cards, And Carols… How Some Christmas Traditions Began

December 28, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Christmas Cake, Cards, And Carols… How Some Christmas Traditions Began

By DONAL ANTHONY FOLEY The main focus for our Advent preparations for Christmas, should, of course, be on the Gospel accounts of the Nativity of our Lord. But there are also numerous traditions which have grown up around Christmas, which, while not essential, do encourage a Christmas spirit and contribute toward the celebrations. The word “Christmas” goes back almost a thousand years, and is an abbreviation of “Christ’s Mass.” This name, with its focus on the birth of Christ and the Eucharist, is partly a reflection of the fact that there are strong Eucharistic overtones in the Nativity accounts — Bethlehem means “House of Bread,” and Jesus was laid in a manger, a receptacle which was designed to hold fodder…Continue Reading

Will The Secessionist Epidemic Ever End?

December 27, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Will The Secessionist Epidemic Ever End?

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Fresh from his triumphal “Get Brexit Done!” campaign, Prime Minister Boris Johnson anticipates a swift secession from the European Union. But if Britain secedes from the EU, warns Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland will secede from the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland, which voted in 2016 to remain in the EU, could follow Scotland out of Britain, leaving her with “Little England” and Wales. Not going to happen, says Boris. His government will not allow a second referendum on Scottish independence. Yet the Scottish National Party won 48 of Scotland’s 59 seats in Parliament, and Sturgeon calls this a mandate for a new vote to secede: “If (Boris) thinks…saying no is the end of the matter…Continue Reading

Interview with Cardinal Burke… He Is With Us: Trusting In The Lord In Turbulent Times

December 26, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Interview with Cardinal Burke… He Is With Us: Trusting In The Lord In Turbulent Times
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By DON FIER (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Prefect Emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura, recently visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wis. On December 9, His Eminence graciously granted The Wanderer a wide-ranging interview and offered many illuminating insights on matters that concern the Church in the present time. Below is part one of the interview; part two will appear in the next issue of The Wanderer, the issue to be published on January 2 and dated January 9.) PART ONE Q. More than a month has passed since the Pan-Amazon synod (October 3-28, 2019). Please offer your critique on the outcome of the…Continue Reading

Does A British Political Victory Once Again Foreshadow Triumph For Trump?

December 25, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Does A British Political Victory Once Again Foreshadow Triumph For Trump?

By DEXTER DUGGAN With beefy, bellowing blond moptops improbably ruling putatively conservative political parties in both the United States and United Kingdom, the search for other parallels is tempting. Neither Donald Trump nor Boris Johnson fits a casting director’s dream of a supposedly suave persuader, but their successful challenges to ossified assumptions paid off at the ballot box in more than one election. Nor are they alone. Recently victorious national leaders with a take-charge image include Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Whatever the inflections of these pols’ philosophies, each of them and also others successfully sought distressed voters who’d been shunted aside by economic globalists with shimmering think-tank theories that suffered in reality. When…Continue Reading

The Innkeeper Reconsidered

December 24, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on The Innkeeper Reconsidered

By JOANNE SADLER BUTLER In the familiar “Infancy Gospel” of Luke, the innkeeper who sends Joseph and Mary to the stable might be viewed as hard-hearted and selfish. The Gospel (Luke 2:7) cites a lack of room at the inn as the reason for Joseph and Mary going to the stable. But was the innkeeper truly selfish? Or was he merciful? First, let us consider why Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem. The Gospel (Luke 2:1-5) tells us the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus required a census of all people in the Roman Empire. His goal was collecting taxes — not just from the Romans in Rome, but from everyone in the empire. Because Joseph was of the tribe of Judah…Continue Reading

Christmas, A Celebration Of Family

December 23, 2019 Frontpage Comments Off on Christmas, A Celebration Of Family

By LAWRENCE P. GRAYSON Christmas is a nostalgic time that evokes feelings of joy, serenity, love, and a desire for family gatherings. Songs like I’ll Be Home for Christmas and It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year arouse memories of holidays past celebrated in the warmth and love of family life. Now more than half a century since their release, these emotive songs are still seasonal standards. The true beauty of Christmas, however, is more than sentimental reminiscences. Its essence is religious, centered on the celebration and meaning of God becoming man. Churches will be beautifully decorated, prominently displaying a crèche with statues representing the Infant Jesus and those who were with Him at His birth in Bethlehem. People…Continue Reading