This is what God says to us from The Cross… Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference? — The Doctor, Doctor Who, episode “Dark Water” (Season 8)
This is what God says to us from The Cross… Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference? — The Doctor, Doctor Who, episode “Dark Water” (Season 8)
Shall I love God for causing me to be? I was mere utterance; shall these words love me? Yet when I caused His work to jar and stammer, And one free subject loosened all His grammar, I love Him that He did not in a rage Once and forever rule me off the page, But, […]
Perhaps the crucial feature of addiction is the progressive replacement of people by things. — Damian Thompson, The Fix
“Where is God when I sin?” I asked a spiritual director. “Suffering with you on the Cross,” he said. And I began to understand Christianity. — Fr. Charles Stanley, OFM Cap., source
Accidentally and pleasantly discovered this song by William Fitzsimmons called “Passion Play.” (listen) I should not have hid Where my heart can’t follow Cause this grace gets so far And too hard to swallow I’ve been running from Saul, He’s been giving chase When I look in his eyes All I see is his face […]
In the fallout now It’s hard to feel like we can turn around With the damage done It’s hard to see how far we’ve come We could not be proud Of where our feet have walked along the ground In the silence now We play it back and forwards again There’s a sound in our […]
I was listening to the homily for today’s morning Mass on EWTN radio as I drove to work. The homilist, Fr. Joseph Mary, paraphrased Dietrich von Hildebrand: The essence of purity is reverence. Fr. Joseph Mary added, “…reverence for the person, reverence for my own dignity, and reverence for God. That is what the essential […]
I ventured out recently into the blogsphere and discovered this meme via Sarx (with some links in the chain A and the original). if the nature of god is omnipotent, benevolent, and anthropomorphic (that god is a person, who sees suffering as wrong, and can change all of it), why does god not act to […]
I discovered an old interview with Father Gabriele Amorth on the internet concerning Satan and exorcism. It is an interesting article, but this particular piece near the end jumped out at me. How does the Devil go about seducing men and women? AMORTH: His strategy is monotonous. I have told him so and he admits […]
I think Walker Percy, in Lost in the Cosmos, sums up the situation between man and God via Jesus: If you’re a big enough fool to climb a tree and like a cat refuse to come down, then someone who loves you has to make as big a fool of himself to rescue you.
From Br. Joseph — We have all seen pictures of the crucifixion. There is one particular picture, a bit different from most, which I want to describe. The viewpoint of the picture is from above the Cross, a little higher than His right hand and a little behind, looking downward over Jesus on the Cross, […]
From Br. Joseph — St. Jerome, best known as the translator of the Bible into Latin from Greek and Hebrew, is reported to have had a vision of the child Jesus. In the vision, Jesus asked Jerome why he had not given Him everything. Jerome was puzzled. “Lord,” he protested, “I have devoted my life […]
Gossip is a community killer. It is a cancer. It separates, isolates, and destroys a person. It literally kills something inside, not only for the victim, but those who spread the gossip. In the victim, it kills self-esteem and spreads to other things. In the gossiper, it kills compassion and love, and then spreads to […]
In Back to Virtue, Peter Kreeft links the virtues of the Beatitudes with the vices of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Beatitudes are the antidote to the Seven Deadly Sins, leading to life, not to death. Pride vs. Poverty of Spirit (Humility) “Pride is self-assertion, selfishness; poverty of spirit is humility, selflessness.” Avarice vs. Mercy […]
“Repentance seeks to know the truth.” I am guilty before You. I admit it. You are the Judge. I come before You, against myself. I desire You. I want to be with You. I want Your will to be done, for You are holy. You are right against me. I love You. I judge myself […]
“To sin, it is not necessary to break the rules,” the sage said. “just keep them to the letter.” It is more than possible to make rules for our existence, the measure of our souls. But when rule-keeping takes precedence over the very essence of spirituality—justice, compassion, and union with God—rules become the very thing […]
I went on the junior class retreat yesterday to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and Museum. I have been to the memorial several times, but this was my first trip through the museum. The memorial is always special, and it was exceptionally beautiful in the falling snow. The museum on the other hand adds several […]
Like Neo in the Matrix movies, Buzz Lightyear from “Toy Story” found enlightenment too.
My 16 year-old daughter I were leaving the church parking lot this morning when we spotted one of her childhood friends light up a cigarette in the back of her mom’s car. My daughter turned to me and asked with a hint of moral superiority if I just saw that. I replied, “The vices of […]
Fr. Ken told this parable during last week’s homily on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: There was a man standing beside a river and saw a scorpion floating on top of the water, helpless in the river current. The man reached out to save the scorpion and was stung. He instinctively reacted by jerking […]
Kallistos Ware, Desert Fathers, parable, story, sin, silence
As a recent convert, I find great comfort in today’s reading of Matthew 20:1-16, The Workers in the Vineyard: Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them […]
Before I found my faith, I had a real problem with the concept of original sin. The first time I attended RCIA classes with my wife, I used it as one of my excuses for dropping out of the classes. I remember someone describing original sin as a stain on humanity, that is all humans […]