The Holy Angels
Today, September 29th, the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael, and on October 2nd celebrates the memorial of the Guardian Angels. In light of these liturgical celebrations, it would be good to have a basic understanding of angels and the role they…
The Argument from Existence: Aquinas’s Philosophical Approach to God
Aquinas’s argument for the existence of God starts from his commonsense theory of existence for particular things. For Aquinas, existence is something things present in reality actually have or participate in. Existence, in other words, is that in virtue of which something is included in reality, or actually is, instead…
30th Anniversary of Veritatis Splendor
St. John Paul II wrote, during his relatively lengthy reign as Supreme Pontiff, many noteworthy and helpful documents. His first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, reminded the faithful of the efficacy and universal scope of Jesus’s salvific work, setting the stage and tone for his entire pontificate; his last, Ecclesia de Eucharistia,…
St. Irenaeus on the Holy Eucharist
St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a second-century Greek bishop that established churches in what is now the south of France, is a go-to Church Father when it comes to establishing the early Christian belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. His teaching is very clear: “the mixed cup…
Are you Vicious?
Are you a vicious person? The answer to this question depends on whether you have vice. But what is vice? Perhaps it’s best to contrast it with virtue. Where virtue is an enduring disposition, or habit, to perform good human acts—acts that are befitting our nature as human beings, vice…
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Happy Is He Who Prays with the Church
Each feast day, St Therese of Lisieux’s sister Pauline would read Dom Guéranger’s commentary on the Mass in order to prepare their minds and hearts. St. Therese writes of this experience, “How I loved the feasts! You knew how to explain all the mysteries hidden under each, and you did…
The Nativity of our Lord: The Feast of this Awe-filled Mystery
As we prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas, it seemed proper to spend some time with a few sermons of Saint Peter Chrysologus, particularly those dealing with the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Saint Peter Chrysologus was appointed Bishop of Ravenna by Pope Sixtus III sometime around…
Humans are Religious Animals
When thinking about religion and about our experience thereof, we might contemplate most readily the feelings we have when we pray, or the love we have for God, or perhaps the knowledge we have of God that gives rise to such love. And these are all legitimate aspects of human…
To the Post-Roe Generation
Almost fifty years ago, on January 22nd, 1973, to the devastation of pro-life Americans, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Roe. V. Wade that a woman’s right to abortion was protected by the United States Constitution. In the years following, secular news on the pro-life community and its…
Adoration: A Simple Way to Grow Your Prayer Life
Deacon candidate Carlos Ambriz has been transformed from his time with Jesus in the Eucharist and has offered support and prayers to beginning the perpetual adoration chapel at the parish of St. Francis Xavier in Tulsa. In late July of 2022, Inauguration of the chapel marked the beginning hours of…
Memories from a Man at Montereau
As I walk down the hallway of Montereau Retirement Center in Tulsa, some of the doors are left open, warmly welcoming guests and neighbors alike to pop in for a visit. One of these open doors, with a framed certificate and patriotic decorations on the shelf next to it, leads…
Being Conformed to Christ’s Priesthood
No discussion of the sacraments of the New Law can be complete without a consideration of sacramental character. Three sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders) bestow sacramental characters, but what exactly are these characters? Answering this will serve to bolster our appreciation for them and for the sacraments which bestow…
Lord, Open Our Eyes So We Might See
I was recently asked to teach two classes in the upcoming year on the topics of the Eucharist in Sacred Art and on Eucharistic Miracles. As I have not taught on these particular subjects before, the first step was to grab the books off the shelf and start collecting the…
On the Power of the Powerless
My focus tonight is baptism, but I want to approach it in a roundabout way. So I hope you’ll bear with me for a few moments. I’ll get there; I promise. I’ve always been a movie fan. When I was very young I wanted to be a stunt man, or…
Honoring the Sacred
The tabernacle is usually one of the most beautiful artifacts in our churches. Often it is an ornate gold box on an altar in the center of the sanctuary, and it is a focal point of a Catholic church for good reason: It houses the most sacred object on earth….
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