Contra Mundum

Faith and Film Friday: Brideshead Revisited Editor’s Note: This is the fifth review in our series, Faith and Film Friday. Read the whole series here. Anyone who has even briefly surveyed popular Catholic novels has no doubt come across Evelyn … Continue reading

Make No Resolutions

10, 9, 8, 7, 6,…It’s New Year’s Eve and as the countdown to the new year draws near you may be thinking that you should make a resolution to change your life. We’ve all heard it before, and usually the … Continue reading

Friendship is Rooted in Charity

Who is your best friend? How do you define your relationship? Perhaps you know what brings each other joy and you will that for each other.  According to the dictionary definition, a friend is someone who is “one attached to … Continue reading

The Need to Abide in Love

In today’s liturgy, we read from the Second Letter of St. John. Tomorrow, we will read from his Third. And beginning next Monday, we will work through his Apocalypse (Revelation) until the beginning of Advent. Ending the liturgical year with … Continue reading

By Grace, Slaying Giants

Editor’s note: This is the seventh post in our newest series, Beholding True Beauty, which consists of prayerful reflections on works of sacred art. The series will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of October. Read the whole … Continue reading

The Unimaginable

I think that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “It’s Quiet Uptown” from the musical Hamilton is the best recent artistic expression of the inexpressible quality of human suffering. It is a powerful piece of music and poetry. Therefore, I want to let it … Continue reading

The Participation Award

By God’s grace, you made it to heaven, and now you’re at the Awards Ceremony of the Heavenly Banquet. St. Peter’s the emcee of the event. He’s been calling out the names of the elect and handing out awards for … Continue reading

Faith Sees the Glory

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46). Such was the initial reaction to Jesus of the man we remember today, the man who, tradition tells us, would eventually surrender his very skin in testimony to Christ. Saint Bartholomew, also … Continue reading

Her Reign Continues

Today’s feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a reminder that modern sensibilities still struggle with the idea of monarchs with real power. But, if we understand monarchy through a more classical lens, we realize that the … Continue reading

While You Were Sleeping

I recently baptized a two month old. He slept through the whole ceremony, barely stirring as I poured water over his head three times (admittedly, it was warm water). On a natural level, this may be rather unremarkable. Babies sleep, … Continue reading

The Treasure of the Church

Where are the treasures of the Church? Perhaps you have seen some in art museums. There are stunning reliquaries, beautiful chalices, and intricately decorated liturgical books. And yet behind glass these treasures appear dead. They sit sadly empty, no longer … Continue reading

Building Shields

In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. –Eph. 6:16 Faith, like a strong shield, is our protection for spiritual combat. Shields are needed in the heat of battle, and … Continue reading

Unrelenting Contrition

Saint Teresa of Calcutta famously said to her Missionaries of Charity, “God does not call us to be successful but to be faithful.” Really, these words provide a panacea for anyone tempted toward perfectionism as well as a stimulus for … Continue reading

Saint Who?

Saint Dogfan. Ours is the kind of Church that can boast of a saint named Dogfan. No boasting really happens, however. Today is St. Dogfan’s feast day, but it’s unlikely that Masses commemorating this fifth-century Welsh martyr will be celebrated … 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

It’s Time for Figs

I can’t help but feel a bit bad for the poor little fig tree Jesus cursed. It seems unfair! Mark makes it quite clear in his Gospel that “it was not the time for figs.” Nevertheless, when Jesus sees that … Continue reading

Is Resistance Futile?

One of the most influential and now forgotten historians of the 19th century was the Austrian Dominican Heinrich Denifle. Despite having many administrative responsibilities, Fr. Denifle found time to pore over thousands of medieval manuscripts, making significant contributions to the … Continue reading

My Immortal Home

Editor’s note: This is the third post in our newest series, reflecting on the Hillbilly Thomists’ recent, self-titled album. The series will run each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the Easter season. Read the whole series here. This post concerns the … Continue reading

Rock Solid

Today is the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, a celebration of the teaching authority of the Vicar of Christ. We don’t usually think of authority as a blessing, but instead as a cost worth paying for the security … Continue reading

Gaze of Love

We’ve all heard that line. “Did you see the way he looked at you?” This perhaps over-romantic line in films is a common starting point for a story about love. But while it might be a cheesy question posed by … Continue reading

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Easter has eggs, Christmas presents, Halloween candy, and the Fourth of July fireworks. These are so tied to their celebration that leaving out the “has” of the preceding clauses might make one think that the names of the holidays were … Continue reading

Lenten Conference Audio: Beholding Light

Dominicana is happy to offer this audio recording of “Beholding Light: Living and Recognizing the Realities of Grace.” It was given by Br. Hyacinth Grubb, O.P. as the final installment of the 2017 Lenten Conferences at the Dominican House of … Continue reading

Baptized Beyond Nature

Some think that to be a Muslim, it is sufficient simply to be born, or to be born to a Muslim father. Likewise, some think that to be a Jew, it is sufficient to be born to a Jewish mother. … 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

Resolutions

Is it better to make resolutions or to keep them? To keep them, obviously, you might huffily reply. Then why do we continue to make resolutions, seeing as we so often and easily break them? New Year’s resolutions in particular … Continue reading