Dioceses are consolidating parishes and going bankrupt in the United States. Catholic bishops should realize there is a problem and deal with it properly. They must accept that the institutional Catholic Church has mismanaged itself, as can be seen in the way it covered up sexual abuse, and now it is dealing with the consequences of its actions. They must regain the trust of the people by accepting those consequences and becoming more transparent about what happened in the past;... Read more
Christianity is a religion of hope. God loves us, and is ready to show us that love, helping us when we need it, while also giving us room to make of ourselves what we want. That is, God’s love grants us both freedom but also mercy and grace if we need them and are willing to accept them when offered. God does not force us to receive any help, but on the other hand, if we find the burden we... Read more
While the various Gospels might give slightly different details, they agree that many of his women disciples, unlike the men, continued to show some faith and trust in Jesus even in his death. St. Albert the Great said that this is why the women were honored by Jesus by making them the first messengers of the resurrection: “Indeed, everyone but his mother doubted, but the women less than the apostles. And for this reason they deserved to be the messengers... Read more
We are called to be temples of God, that is, to have God dwell within us. When that happen, as St. Antony the Great indicated, we will be able to be good. This is because when we have God dwell within us, we are able to participate in and share in God’s goodness: “Abba Antony said: ‘A man is never good, even if he wants to be good. Unless God dwells within him: ‘There is none good but one :... Read more
Freedom and human dignity are interconnected, which is why those who promote human dignity must promote liberation for those who are oppressed. We should want everyone to enjoy the freedom which everyone naturally possesses. Everyone, by nature, is good, and that goodness reflects the divine image which is in them. God is absolutely free; those made in the image of God reflect that freedom, giving them a relative, not absolute freedom, a freedom which allows them to make of themselves... Read more
When we worship God with others, such as at a Vespers Service, or during a Divine Liturgy, we must make sure we keep ourselves properly focused, making sure we do not turn our attention to others and what they are doing. God does not need our worship; when we go, it is for ourselves. Worship should be done out of love, for then, it will help us open ourselves up to God and God’s love for us. Thus, our worship... Read more
Christ’s resurrection from the dead was more than a simple historical event. This is why it is wrong to look at it from a merely historical standpoint. Historians will not be able to say much about the event itself. To be sure, there was a historical side to it, but to limit it to a mere historical event will misunderstand the event itself. It is an eternal event. The historical aspect of it is remembered every year as we celebrate... Read more
One of the key elements which connects J.R.R. Tolkien’s personal faith with his myths is his understanding of angels and their role in world history. He believed, like many other Christians, that angels had a more direct interaction with humanity in pre-Christian times than they did after the incarnation. For, after God became human, the role angels had changed to reflect the more direct relationship humanity would have with God. As his myth took place in pre-history, long before the... Read more
St. John Chrysostom, in his famous Paschal Homily, shows us the true spirit of Easter in the way he says everyone is called to come and celebrate the joy of the resurrection. His message is one of inclusion and love, not of hate and exclusion, so that even those who might have thought they should be excluded from the Paschal feast are told they are welcomed and wanted at it: Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord.... Read more
God created the world and saw it was good. As God is the source and foundation of every good, it would be incredulous to think that God would ever seek to have anything which is good to be utterly destroyed. The problem with sin, what makes it evil, is not that sin or evil is a substance, but rather, it seeks to corrupt and destroy that which is good. Indeed, if evil is left unchecked, if it is able to... Read more
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