Editor’s note: This post was originally published on November 29, 2012. Fr. Jacob Bertrand Janczyk was ordained to the priesthood in May 2017 and now serves as the Vocations Director for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph. This Sunday, the … Continue reading
Scripture
Strengthen Me With Raisin Cakes
Some people say that the Bible is like a “love letter” from God. That’s hard to take when you’re sitting in the pew, listening to a lector mumble a reading filled with ancient names and places, and you suddenly realize … Continue reading
The Light of Conscience
Our friend Tom is in a moral pickle. His elderly mother—bedridden with dementia and slipping in and out of consciousness—nonetheless clings to life. There is no telling how long until she will “shuffle off this mortal coil.” In the meantime, … Continue reading
To Be Like Them
Wouldn’t it be nice if being Catholic didn’t make us so annoyingly different from everyone else? If we didn’t have such a strong emphasis on sacraments and hierarchy, while those around us rely on egalitarianism? If Sundays meant football and … Continue reading
“Well, actually, Jesus…”
Often when I read Scripture, I find myself thinking about my friend Jacob. The reason is not that I see Jacob reflected in the sacred page: I don’t see his silhouette masked behind Psalmist’s righteous man, or hear echoes of … Continue reading
Seeds from Reading
“Pick up and read, pick up and read.” While in a garden, St. Augustine heard these words spoken by a child and was inspired to pick up Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Reading, he received the grace of conversion which … Continue reading
A Word for Bread
Editor’s note: This is the fourth post in a series commenting on the first words of Christ as presented in the Gospels. It is written,“One does not live by bread alone.” (Lk 4:4) With our modern dietary aversion to gluten … Continue reading
When the Word Speaks
Editor’s note: This is the first post in a series commenting on the first words of Christ as presented in the Gospels. The words of Christ are powerful. In the beginning, God spoke, and through his Word, the heavens and … Continue reading
A Prayer of Christian Philosophy
Why, O Eternal Wisdom, do the heavens move as they do, the rains fall, and the windows fog? Why does my breath make clouds? Why does the oil hover on the water and the light burn up the darkness? Why, … Continue reading
5 Meditations for Election Week
This election has all the attraction of a highway car crash. It’s gruesome to behold, but we can’t seem to turn away. Much of America is disillusioned about the candidates, yet record numbers watched the presidential debates. And like a … Continue reading
The Unkempt Man
Brother’s having a really rough day. He wakes up at 7:08 am, throws on his habit, bounds bleary-eyed down two flights of stairs, and makes it to the chapel as the lector finishes the first reading. After Mass, Brother finishes … Continue reading
Lessons From The Garden
The medievals spoke of the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature, both offering knowledge of God. Even within Scripture, men read from the Book of Nature: Adam naming the animals, Isaiah describing salvation as a desert in bloom, … Continue reading