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

A Good End

“He who endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22) It is good to start something, but it is better to finish it (see Eccl 7:8). To endure to the end, our ultimate end, means to die well, to … Continue reading

Friendly Justice

The last time I set foot in a McDonalds, I witnessed an injustice. Not a grave injustice—something minor, but nonetheless a system which failed to respect the entirety of the human person. I saw, for the first time, automated and … Continue reading

Holy Hate

“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good” (Rom 12:9). God’s grace conforms our hearts to his. We usually think about this divine work within ourselves as transforming us to love what God loves, … 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

Do Not Forget Affliction

On the day of prosperity do not forget affliction, and on the day of affliction do not forget prosperity (Sir. 11:27). The wisdom literature of the Bible sometimes gives us very concrete and everyday proverbs, things we can ponder and … Continue reading

Why Wine?

At Mass, bread and wine become, through Christ’s power in the actions of the priest, Christ’s body and blood. Why bread and wine? Well, because that’s what God decided. He was free to choose anything at all when instituting the … Continue reading

You Zombie Friends

Scrolling down your social media page you might see regular updates from an old friend or acquaintance whose life has long since gone in a different direction, with whom you maintain no real contact. These online friends perdure in a … Continue reading

The Bitter Cup

“You make the grass grow for the cattle and plants to serve man’s need, that he may bring forth bread from the earth and wine to cheer the heart” (Ps. 104:14-15). And again: “Then he took a cup, gave thanks, … 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

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

Hearts Like His

You’re always hurt most by those closest to you. The sharpest knives are wielded by family, religious brothers, or intimate friends, for they have a particular access to our hearts that is born of the strength of the bond between … Continue reading

Betrayal’s Foundation

There are two great betrayals in the Passion of Christ by two of Christ’s very apostles: Judas and St. Peter. Only one now has the title “saint” before his name. Why did Judas betray Christ? It was not a spontaneous … 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

Mocking Mercy

How does the world react to true mercy? Sometimes it laughs. I recently saw the film Silence, (spoiler alert) about two Jesuit missionaries in Japan during a time of terrible persecution, and it features one particularly striking character named Kichijiro. He … 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

No Trust in Princes

Soon we’ll have a new president. At the time of writing (last week) we were still waiting for the election, still embroiled in pre-election scandal and controversy in a political spectacle that just wouldn’t stop. Today we make the transition … 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