Smoke

Ideas affect us. Bad ideas affect us for the worse. Like smoke in the air, they make it hard to see things as they really are, and breathing them in makes us sick. We’re bombarded with smoke from every direction … Continue reading

From Wicked Lips

Truth is found in surprising places. We expect to hear prophecy spoken by holy men—and it is—but it’s also sometimes spoken by the wicked, as in the strange story of Balaam. We find the story in Numbers 22-24, and it’s worth … Continue reading

A New Springtime

After the many sufferings of the twentieth century, the new millennium offered so much promise and hope for the Church. Though she no longer held sway over society, the Church, stirred by the person and thought of Pope John Paul … Continue reading

Open Wide Those Doors

Forty years ago today, a clarion call rang from the celebrant’s chair in Saint Peter’s Square: “Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ!” With those resounding words—so familiar now to myriad Catholics across the … Continue reading

Sigrid Undset and an Escape to Reality

In times of crisis, both personal and ecclesial, it can be a great comfort to revisit the lives of Catholics who have gone before us, who have suffered for the faith valiantly (or at least patiently), and have faced the … Continue reading

Indeed You Love Truth in the Heart

The Acts of the Apostles recounts a startling run-in between the apostles and Ananias and Sapphira. Having sold property and presented the proceeds to the early Church community, the couple then failed to present all the proceeds and then lied … Continue reading

“Barb, I Love You?”

Theodore is in a dilemma. Over the past few months, he has fallen head-over-heels in love with Barb. She is the woman of his dreams: beautiful, affectionate, gentle, and compassionate. Whenever he treads in Barb’s presence, Theodore’s heart is close … Continue reading

Celebrating 3,000,000 Views

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Ps 127:1) This week, Dominicana Journal Online reached a count of three million views since our first post in September 2011. From its beginning, this project has … Continue reading

Aletheia

The veil has been torn asunder; the tomb has been opened; the wounds have been revealed. Easter time is about manifestation. Things are being uncovered, and truth abounds. We hear that Christ, after his Resurrection, comes to proclaim his triumph … 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

Where Are the Poor?

There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linenand dined sumptuously each day.And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scrapsthat fell … 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

A Growing Spirit of Criticism

This game I’ll call “Guess This Conservative Author,” and it only works if played by the rules. Without reading ahead, consider these select criticisms of modernity: Against self-serving politicians: See the moral hypocrisy of the commanding class. They know no … Continue reading

The True Axis of the Earth

In C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce, dead souls ascend by bus from a hellish suburbia to the edge of heaven. For the dead souls, everything in this new land overwhelms. The leaves are heavy, the light blinding, even the … Continue reading

Truth or Death?

The Princess Bride just starts to get interesting with the kidnapping of Buttercup and the following pursuit. The Man-in-Black chases after the kidnappers, overcoming all obstacles to track Buttercup down. “There is no misunderstanding,” Vizzini says to the Man-in-Black once … Continue reading

Fake News Is Great News

I have known many men who wished to deceive, but none who wished to be deceived. –St. Augustine “Fake news” has become big news in recent months. How could the proliferation of deliberately fabricated articles be a good thing? It’s … 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

Should We Preach to the Choir?

We don’t know how to agree with people we agree with. We are reminded daily that our country is riven by disagreements and that we have little hope of crossing the many cultural, political, moral, and religious divides. It’s perhaps … Continue reading