A New Series: Faith and Film Friday Has the screen taken over our culture? Perhaps we are not yet in a complete dystopian future in which every person’s reality is virtual, but with Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube making movies and … Continue reading
Author Archives: dbrindle
An Open Ear
There is more to the Mass than the ear can hear. When the faithful settle back into their pews after the Gospel proclamation, for example, the priest or deacon, having reverenced the Book of the Gospels with a kiss, recites … Continue reading
The Glorification of Andrei Rublev
In 1998, the Russian Orthodox Church “glorified” (the formal process of canonization in the East) the celebrated iconographer, Andrei Rublev (c. 1360-1430; feast day, January 29 or July 4). Little is known about his life, and still less is known … Continue reading
St. Thomas the Teacher
Is there a doctor in the house?! This frequent cry in movies or TV is a call for help during an emergency. Doctor is also the title that the Church gives to St. Thomas Aquinas. The rarest of titles given … Continue reading
Stony Souls
Saul stood by with a heart harder than the stones striking Stephen. Unconvinced by Stephen’s eloquent preaching, unmoved by his miracles, blind to his angelic countenance, blinder still to his burning love, the eyes of Saul’s soul, sealed shut by … Continue reading
Jesus Can
The waters of Baptism have washed billions of men and women. They keep flowing. The Church has absolved sins since her foundation. She still pardons. God secretly has graced and forgiven unknown multitudes. He ever labors. Jesus is always able … Continue reading
Spiritually Ambidextrous
St. Paul often distinguishes between desires of the flesh and desires of the spirit, between those desires that entangle us with sin and those that draw us to God. These are at war within us, such that often we feel … Continue reading
Knitting
Attention artistic vandals! Looking for a cozier creative medium than graffiti? Try yarn bombing, the urban art that bedecks everyday objects (traffic posts, bicycles, city busses, etc) with colorful displays of crocheted yarn. Although steeped in the ideological debates of … Continue reading
The Glory of the Hidden Stars
He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world (Jn 1:8-9). The cold keeps many from wondering at a January night sky where every star, … Continue reading
Unique From Day One
Until a few weeks ago, I did not know the March for Life has a theme each year. I have attended the March several times, both before and after becoming a Dominican friar, but somehow this simple fact eluded me. … Continue reading
The Voice of God
Today at Mass we hear, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:8). What does the voice of God sound like? How will I know that it is him when I do hear it? Does God … Continue reading
Misplaced in the Woods
I once got lost in the woods. I had spent the day hiking with much of my novitiate class, and four of us toured an off-trail route later in the afternoon. Because of a hurt ankle, I lagged behind at … Continue reading
What Must Be Done
And so it’s Ordinary Time again. Even the die-hard observers of the liturgical season of Christmas have pulled down their trees and their nativity scenes. And it’s not even the first day of Ordinary Time anymore. Every Monday is at … Continue reading
The Wisdom of Friends
There abides in the human heart a desire for deep and expansive vision. This is proven by the yearning we have for building skyscrapers that provide stunning views of a city’s downtown or skywalks like the one overlooking the Grand … Continue reading
Announcing the Winter 2018 Issue of Dominicana Journal: Christian Manliness
Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, that you may prosper in all that you do … Continue reading
Rules for the Game
Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Toronto: Random House Canada, 2018. In a chess game, there are lots of things you can do, although you can’t break the rules of the chess game and continue to … Continue reading
Shew Thyself a Man: Inheritance and Manliness in the Bible
It is difficult, even with the Bible in hand, to sketch an image of that special excellence we call manliness. In fact, it is generally easier to describe false images of manliness. We might think first of machismo, a frequent … Continue reading
The Murderer’s Wife
There lived in fourteenth-century Rhineland a young woman of a respectable family. Raised by such a family in a land under the Christian Gospel for centuries, she became a pious young woman. She must have been full of hope for … Continue reading
Loving God Is Useless
Something is useless if it fails to produce whatever product we use it to produce. For instance, if the head breaks off of a hammer, the hammer can no longer be used to produce what we use it to produce—namely, … Continue reading
Dulce et Decorum Est
Can we glorify death? The Roman poet, Horace, did. Celebrating stouthearted soldiers in his Odes (III.2), he wrote, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori—Sweet and fitting it is to die for the fatherland.” His poem captured the hearts of … Continue reading
Your King Comes
See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. The entire cosmos speaks of Christ, announces his coming, yet only a few dare look to the … Continue reading
Loving Lawyers
You should also learn to understand and—dare I say it—to love canon law, appreciating how necessary it is and valuing its practical applications: a society without law would be a society without rights. Law is the condition of love. -Benedict … Continue reading
In Dulci Jubilo
It might be tempting to treat the upcoming weekend as just another regular ol’ weekend. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day have gone. Friends and family are away. Most have gone back to work or will be soon. In fact, … Continue reading
I Decided to Bow My Head at the Name of Jesus
I decided to bow my head at the name of Jesus. I wish I could say I was led to this by feelings of pious devotion. I was not. I just saw some priests doing it and it seemed like … Continue reading
Suffering in the New Year
At the beginning of every new year there is a sense of hope. We take stock of where we are as individuals in our life, where we want to be in a year’s time, and how to go about accomplishing … Continue reading