Truth is “a Thing” – St. Athanasius in the 21st Century
The Church is supposed to be a Sign of Contradiction (Luke 2:34). If all she offers in the face of sin is a Nod and a Wink, however, what is she teaching? How is any distinction possible between her teaching and what the Conventional Wisdom has on offer? Do we not then give tacit assent?
How Star Trek Explains Faith
Star Trek explains faith? How does it do that? Star Trek Explains This isn’t just an excuse to write about one of my favorite television franchises. I have a serious point. Really. My thesis here is that the TV show that promises to take us “where no man has gone before” can help us understand what faith […]
Does Jesus Really Expect Us To Be Perfect?
To Be or Not To Be . . . Perfect Be perfect? Is he serious? It’s funny how different things can look from just a slightly changed perspective. I remember an incident when I was a fallen-away Catholic college sophomore. Responding to what must have been a Divine prompting, I picked up a copy of the […]
Have a Blessed Easter! (Jesus Christ is Risen Today)
Christ is Risen, Alleluiah! Christ is Risen indeed. And what could be more fitting this day than the joyous Easter hymn, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”? The video below features the amazing fresco of The Resurrection by Piero della Francesca. The Huddersfield Choral Society & Joseph Cullen provide the music. May the Lord bless you […]
Something Strange is Happening – Holy Saturday
Something Strange Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. These are the opening sentences in the non-scriptural reading in today’s Office of Readings. The author, it seems, is unknown. The liturgy simply tells us that it is […]
Is it I, Lord? – Good Friday
Is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? It seems all too easy for us sometimes to see the Apostles, in their bumbling humanity, as almost comic figures. They certainly don’t appear too dignified, for instance, when they argue over which one of them is greatest (Luke 22:24, Mark 9:33, etc.); they look almost like clamoring […]
Christ Came to Serve – Holy Thursday
Christ Came to Serve – The Mass of the Lord’s Supper “It is enough.” He said to them, “But now, let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag. And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one. For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in […]
Crucifixus Etiam Pro Nobis: Lotti’s Musical Meditation on the Crucifixion
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato: Passus, et sepultus est. (Nicene Creed) Crucifixus Etiam Pro Nobis Crucifixus etiam pro nobis: He was also crucified for us. That brief statement in the Nicene Creed refers to one of the two most important events of all time. The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his Resurrection […]
Which Crowd? Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday
And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:40-41) The Inner Struggle One could make a good case […]
Body and Soul, or, When A Church Is Not A Church
Body and Soul The Devil is in the details. He is indeed. Take this whole body/soul thing, for instance. We have a very hard time giving each its due. The world of the flesh is constantly trying to pull us away from the life of the spirit. It’s always tempting us with mere stuff. In our efforts to resist the world […]