A Link to the Past II

I have a few posts from around the Catholic Blogosphere to highlight today, some dealing with friendship, of course!

- From Father Dwight Longenecker comes an interesting meditation on the biggest problem of all...lack of love, or rather, the perceived lack of love. (HT: Waiting for Godot to Leave)

I am convinced that at the heart of all our problems is an empty or a broken heart. What I mean is that there is a 'love lack.' Our problems stem from the fact that we do not have enough love–total, unconditional, over whelming love. Somewhere along the line an ache like a hunger pang developed in our heart and we sensed way down deep that we were not loved, or at least we were not loved enough. From that perceived lack of love we developed our problem.

-  Mark Shea tells us about "magic" of friendship in his own way:

Friendships can be deeply transformative experiences. A deep and true friendship with another person or a circle of persons can completely revolutionize a person’s life — and the lives of many other people.

Friendship has been at the core of some of the greatest human achievements of all time. Perhaps nowhere is its power more potently seen than in the founding of the Church: It was a band of friends Our Lord sent into the world to announce the Good News. 

- Wondering what I mean when I say I'm a "Bad Catholic"? Well, Shea, John C.Wright, and Marc Barnes help explain with the help of Hillaire Belloc, G.K. Chesterton, and Walker Percy.

Hillaire Belloc on the Catholic Church: 

An institute run with such knavish imbecility that if it were not the work of God it would not last a fortnight.

- The Thomist James Chastek shares his philosophical bugbears (or pet peeves). I have to admit, I might have committed quite a few on his list in my youth and inexperience. As if the readers who remember my quote from Aquinas on "avoiding small errors that might have big consequences" need any more reminding, here's a clip from MLP that shows what might happen if you ignore Chastek's advice:

Just as the errors of modern philosophers like Descartes and Kant brought down the house of A-T metaphysics, Derpy Hooves’ clumsiness brings down Ponyville's city hall!