As human beings, we learn to do great things by imitating others. “Imitation is natural for man from childhood,” says Aristotle, “one of his advantages over the lower animals being this, that he is the most imitative creature in the … Continue reading
Virtue & Moral Life
A Sickness Unto Death
Saint John Chrysostom tells us that, “It is not so much sin as despair that casts us into hell.” How can this be? Despair is not the most serious of sins, but in the Christian life, it can be the … Continue reading
Legal Delight
Upon reflection, the last stanza in the Responsorial Psalm for today’s readings (the proper readings for the Memorial of St. Bernard) could come across to us as perverse: “in the way of your decrees I rejoice.” Why should a decree, … Continue reading
Too Much Religion
In his Summa Theologiae, qq. 81-100, St. Thomas Aquinas discusses the virtue of religion, whereby we render due worship to God our creator. It may seem odd that Thomas devotes 20 questions to this virtue, each composed of several articles. … Continue reading
Greatness Then, Greatness Now
One of the most convincing elements of good art is its ability to draw the viewer into the full depth of its subject. In the realm of film and television, HBO’s Band of Brothers (2001) stands in a class of … Continue reading
Thankless Charity
Growing up, most of us were probably taught that when someone does something nice for us, we should say thank you. As a result, we have come to expect gratitude when we do something kind for another. Yet, sometimes—perhaps even … Continue reading
Better Never To Have Been Born
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). So terrible, in fact, that it would be better never to have been born (Mt 26:24). Of course, Jesus was saying this concerning Judas’s … Continue reading
God and Wicked Judges
Today at Mass we hear the story of Susanna. This passage from the book of Daniel presents us with a beautiful, God-fearing, law-observant, chaste, and innocent heroine. She falls victim to the lusts and lies of two thwarted and creepy … Continue reading
Only God Knows
Today we are just over two weeks into the season of Lent, a time to refocus and reorder our lives. Just over two weeks ago we were invited to remember that we are dust and that to dust we will … Continue reading
She Calls Out
He stood still when he heard her voice. “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here! Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave simpleness, and live, and walk in the way of insight” … Continue reading
Pharaohs Who Know Not Jesus
In the final chapters of the book of Genesis, we find Joseph, a person who foreshadows and anticipates the coming of Christ. There are many parallels between the lives of Joseph and Jesus. For example, the malice of Joseph’s brothers, … Continue reading
Time for a Check-Up!
“You’re dying.” It took a moment for those words to sink in. Dying. This thing will kill me. “How could I be dying? How could it be this serious? I mean, how long have I had it?” “Actually,” the doctor … Continue reading
Pulling the Fourth
“I told them I was pulling the fourth.” A wise father once shared with me that the fourth commandment—honor thy father and mother—is a trump card he holds up his sleeve. He pulls it out when his children need to … 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
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
How to Do Things
It matters how you do things. Even in the most mundane routine, like your morning coffee, how you do things matters. Do you approach life like a task to complete? We’re all tempted to seek efficiency first and intentionality second, … Continue reading
Ignorance is NOT Bliss
In Chapter 7 of St. Luke’s Gospel, some disciples of John the Baptist approach Jesus, sent by John himself to ask Jesus, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Lk 7:19). At first glance, … Continue reading
Neon Signs and Christ
Neon sign psychics. Reality TV mediums. Palm reading ads stuffed into the nooks and crannies of the subway. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord, and because of such abominations the Lord, your God, is dispossessing … Continue reading
A Christian is Obedient
Several years ago a small board examined me, asking me to reflect on my time in the Boy Scouts of America. This examination was the last requirement necessary for earning the rank of Eagle Scout; and their questions took on … 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
Lecherous Stump
Lecherous stump of flesh, knotted, rotten, Twisted from thy flickering flirtations With lesser lovers, leaving frostbitten That sad little lump of palpitations. Withered lie thy dry leaves, O heart of mine, Deprived of all love’s life-giving waters, For thy lovers’ … Continue reading
Who Am I to Judge?
We are called to be judges, but all too often we are unfit to judge. In the same epistle containing his great hymn to love, St. Paul rebukes the Corinthians for not fulfilling their noble role as judges. Do you … Continue reading
The Martyr-Prophet of Reform
Girolamo Savonarola was born in Northern Italy in 1452 to a well-to-do merchant family. Growing up, he was taught a love for the moral life and a hatred for decadence by his fervently religious grandfather. At the age of twenty-three, … 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
Stuck in the Molasses Swamp
How sad, how lack-luster a life he leadsWho delights to describe the death he sees.How rotten be the heart of a brotherWho snivels ‘bout the rot in another! ***** One thing we can know for certain about heaven is that … Continue reading