Preaching in Lystra

When Paul and Barnabas heal a crippled man at Lystra while proclaiming the Gospel there, the miracle at first seems to backfire. By preaching in Lystra, they intended to turn the locals away from idolatry to the true worship of … Continue reading

Suspense in the City of God

Much has been written about the growth of secularism in the modern world, the future of religion in public life, and the appropriate Christian response. I would like to offer another perspective, trying to deal not so much with the … Continue reading

Returning to Dust

“In the midst of life we are in death.” Today as priests adorn millions of foreheads with ash, many will hear, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” This reminder of death comes from God’s reprimand … Continue reading

Mi Mamá Me Ama

I was taught to write cursive as a child back home in Venezuela. The typical method of instruction involved painstaking copying of letters or short sentences several times. I still remember that to learn how to shape the letter ‘m,’ … Continue reading

A Warrior’s Fall

He fought the battles no one else would fight Till, bitter, he fought foes already dead Estranged, he fought his fellows by his might And died but slaying foes within his head. ***** To fight for a just cause is … Continue reading

The Embrace of Christ

Entering the room, I was embraced at once by an eighty-nine-year-old Italian lady. First she grabbed my shoulder, and then she reached out to take hold of my elbow. Then the first big hug. She continuously clutched my hand, sometimes … Continue reading

Loosing the Tongue

Speaking does not imply saying anything, though maybe it should. Someone can talk a lot and yet have said nothing at all—think chitchatterers, depleted athletes, and political geniuses. This is because real speech reveals what is in the heart: truths … Continue reading

Living in Grace

Life really is like a Sigrid Undset novel. It’s all about grace—receiving it and rejecting it. Undset masterfully crafts her characters to reveal the quiet—and sometimes not so quiet—movements of grace in their lives. God lovingly touches each soul, bestowing upon … Continue reading

My Mother’s Keeper

The Church is a Mother. We are her children. As with our earthly mothers, some of us stay near and devoted to our Mother, the Church. Others keep their distance. For those Catholics struggling to love the Church as their … Continue reading

Where Are the Poor?

There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linenand dined sumptuously each day.And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scrapsthat fell … Continue reading

Mi Casa Es Tu Casa

“Son, back in nahn-teen seh-vendy six your dad was…” Often in my household while I was growing up, my father, referring to himself in the third person, would start extravagant stories with this long, drawn-out introduction. My brother and I … Continue reading

Your Saint Too

On Saturday, we Dominicans celebrated the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas with special solemnity. For us, the feast is always accompanied by a certain sense of fraternal pride. After all, this great saint and Doctor of the Church, held … Continue reading

The Dissolving and Splitting of Solid Things

Throwback Tuesday He stood alone on the stones, his mess-tin spilled at his feet. Out of the vortex, rifling the air it came – bright, brass-shod, Pandoran; with all-filling screaming the howling crescendo’s up-piling snapt. The universal world, breath held, … Continue reading

Religion is Not Race

There is a troubling tendency in our public discourse to reduce religion to race or ethnicity (the complex case of Judaism aside). On this view, religion is a more or less superficial feature of one’s identity—something akin to skin color … Continue reading

The Visceral Reality of God’s Love

I once heard a preacher tell his congregation that Catholics have a peculiar fascination with the gruesomeness of the crucifixion and that this sick fixation on “gore” was behind the death and darkness now celebrated on Halloween. “They love their … Continue reading

A Thrown Away Culture

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has spoken out against a modern “throwaway culture.” The Holy Father has perceived this culture in a variety of attitudes present today, from consumerist demands for disposable products, to a lack of care for creation, … Continue reading

Angels and Afterparties

What color are an angel’s wings? White, of course. Unless they’re red, or  gold, or black, or a rainbow, or any variety of shades. It seems that Christian artists through the centuries have had imaginations much more active than ours. Why bother … Continue reading