Around the Blogosphere . . .

• Dr. Blosser provides philosophical reflections on The Passion of The Christ:

  The allusive symbolism throughout is both lavish and subtle, and much of it will be lost on those unversed in Scripture and Catholic tradition--from the wordless depiction of the scene described in John 8:8-11 to the clutched veil of Veronica bearing the impression of the Savior's blood-stained face. This may be regarded as a shortcoming of the film. Yet not only is this inevitable and unavoidable, but it points up a distinctive fact about such an undertaking as this: it cannot possibly be viewed and understood by all audiences as intended by its director and producer. The interior spiritual meaning intended in such a film--what Gerard Manley Hopkins might have called, had he lived to be a modern film critic, its "inscape"--is something that will remain inaccessible to any viewer unqualified in specific ways to see it as canonically intended. . . . [Read More]

• Which three books "would explain in clear, profound, and incisive terms the whole structure of human life, its destiny, and how it stands before God and the world"? -- James V. Schall gives his answer in the latest issue of Crisis magazine; via TS O'Rama (of the blog with the really long Latin name)

• Bill Cork posts his article Passionate Blogging: Interfaith Controversy and the Internet , a chapter in the forthcoming book After The Passion Is Gone: American Religious Consequences, edited by Shawn Landres and Michael Berenbaum (to be published later this year).

• For those who aren't already aware, regular updates on the Catholic Kerry Scandal can be found on Catholic Kerry Watch, a new group blog with Jeff Miller ("Curt Jester"), Earl E. Appleby ("Times Against Humanity") and others.