Nearly four years ago, I wrote about "Dagger John" Hughes, the first Irish-born Archbishop of New York, a man who never allowed a public slight against the Church to go publicly unchallenged. I ended with this:
So, Dagger John, pray for us, and ask Our Lord to send us another one like you. Really, really soon.
Looks like that may be exactly what happened.
In 1867, Matthew Arnold wrote "Dover Beach", a haunting poem evoking the "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar" of the Sea of Faith. As a boomer who finished Catholic elementary school in 1964 and then watched my Church falter, I've found the roar all too audible. So here I wait, listening for the whispers of that Sea's invincible return.
