To gaze on Mary with Mother Teresa and her sisters is to look into Mary’s Immaculate Heart. “I put all my trust in her heart,” Mother Teresa confided (Come Be My Light, 135). Writing to a spiritual director, she pleaded, … Continue reading
Cross
You Don’t Know What You’re Asking
Swish! Swish! Swish! lap the waves. 12:15 AM reads the my watch beneath the silver star light. What am I looking for? What do I want? I think to myself as I knead the sand with my toes. Beep! … Continue reading
What I Did for Love
The sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us (Rm 8:18). Why would someone give up something that they love? Giving up something you are addicted to makes sense. Giving up something … Continue reading
From the Lips of Babes
“Who is that?” “That is Jesus on the cross.” “Why is He all beat up?” “He loved us so much that he came all the way from heaven to suffer and die to save us, even when we killed Him.” … Continue reading
How Are You Going to Die?
“How are you going to die?” A morbid question, and one which few would want to answer. Surely we can’t know how we are going to die. There is, of course, what many would consider the ideal scenario: passing peacefully, … Continue reading
The Dead Man
I carry a dead man around with me. Look, there he is—his body stretched out, hanging by nails, dripping blood. Who carries a dead man around? Do you see him? Look. Look at his face, at his wounds. It’s all … Continue reading
Short-Term Evangelization
“Let us offer each other the sign of peace.” The amphitheater housing thousands of high school-aged teens erupts in a joyful rumble of handshakes, hugs, and hubbub. The kiss of peace lasts a good five minutes before the sound of … Continue reading
Letter to My Brother
Hey Brother, So, we’re off. It’s one day after Pentecost and we’re getting a taste of the apostolic life, jumping into cars and hopping onto planes. Sorry I didn’t catch up with you before departure day. Summer assignments arrive so … Continue reading
Walk Close to Jesus
Editor’s note: This is the thirteenth and final post in our newest series, reflecting on the Hillbilly Thomists’ recent, self-titled album. The series has run throughout the Easter season. Read the whole series here. This post concerns the song “Just … Continue reading
Behold, All Ye Who Pass By
“They will look on him whom they have pierced.” ( Zech. 12:10) Behold. Turn not your eyes away. Avert not your gaze. Cast not down your face. With the eyes of your body and the eyes of your heart, look … Continue reading
Lenten Conference Audio: Led into All Truth: The Paraclete’s Mission of Spiritual Healing and Reconciliation
Lenten Conference Audio: Led into All Truth: The Paraclete’s Mission of Spiritual Healing and Reconciliation Dominicana is happy to offer this audio recording of “Led into All Truth: The Paraclete’s Mission of Spiritual Healing and Reconciliation.” It was given by Br. … Continue reading
Just Keep Your Eyes on Me
By your counsel you will guide me,and then you will lead me to glory.What else have I in heaven but you?Apart from you, I want nothing on earth. (Psalm 73:24-25) The rails clacked and the din of passengers subsided to … Continue reading
A God Who Cannot Feel
In this season of penance, we ask God to have mercy. Human mercy involves compassion, looking upon someone’s misery and feeling it as your own. But God, in his eternity, can’t feel misery—he can’t feel anything. I don’t mean that … Continue reading
The Paradox of Willfulness
Lent is more than half over, a good time to remember why we carry our cross. We do it to be disciples of Christ, to do His will in our life and not our own. But surrendering our own willfulness … Continue reading
Burdened under the Law
The Church’s moral law has received attention in the public square for many years now, on topics ranging from contraception to torture. These sorts of discussions take place within the Church as well, as seen in the current discussion on … Continue reading
A Sign of Contradiction
For many Christians, making the sign of the cross can be as mechanical as brushing one’s teeth or clearing one’s throat. On the one hand, it’s beautiful that such a simple sign can contain such profound meaning. It’s very simplicity, … Continue reading
Embrace of the Cross
The idea of a hug from Jesus can bring to mind the figure of a blue-eyed man with tousled brown hair, probably a big beard, and a cheesy grin with his arms stretched wide waiting for you. Or this time … Continue reading
Hardly Idyllic
The Holy Family had a rough start, don’t you think? To begin with, it almost ended before it started. Mary was found to be with child, in a pregnancy planned by God but unplanned by men. So “Joseph, being a … Continue reading
The Face of an Angel
Yesterday we celebrated the birth of the Son of God. Today we remember the death of a man. Through Advent we watched for the coming of God, before being surprised to see angelic hosts and to hear the cry of … Continue reading
The Standing Now
In a few days we will celebrate Christ the King, which anticipates the moment when Jesus returns, time ends, and eternal life begins. But what do we mean by “eternal”? Is it the same sort of eternity as a traffic … 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