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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Faith: The Misunderstood Virtue
Though the term “faith” exists even in our increasingly secular age, it is arguably a word misunderstood by many who use it. Take a moment to consider your own response to the question, posed perhaps by a non-Christian seeking after the truth: “What is faith?” Is it an opinion you…
In Praise of the Holy Family Against the Gods
Homer and the Ancient Greek poets tell us that in the beginning there was the world, Gaia, and the heavens, Uranus. The earth and the heavens came together and gave birth to the great and powerful Titans—and the chief titan, Cronos, waged war against his own father and killed him…
Advent & the Coming of Christ
Advent is perhaps the most overlooked and forgotten season on the liturgical calendar. After all, at least in the United States, it proceeds Thanksgiving and precedes Christmas, two days with great cultural/societal influence. Though both are times of preparation before major feasts, Lent tends to overshadow Advent with its own…
Faith of our Fathers: St. Bernard of Clairvaux
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153 A.D.) has been hailed by many as “the last of the Fathers” and was perhaps the greatest saint and teacher of his age. Among those who accord St. Bernard this title stands Pope Pius XII. And he adds a further title, “Doctor Mellifluus,” the Mellifluous…
John Paul II & The Revelatory Nature of the Human Person
Pope John Paul II, Karol Józef Wojtyła, was born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, and died in Rome on the Eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 2, 2005. Karol experienced firsthand the dehumanizing Nazi and Communist regimes that controlled Poland during his lifetime, and he participated in the cultural…
St. Augustine: Love & Conversion in the Church
Sacred Scripture reveals through salvation history that God calls every person to Himself. Those who respond to their vocation and turn to the Lord are often used for the conversion and salvation of others. Conversion does not always occur in a single moment but sometimes is a process of coming…
The Transfiguration & the Revelation of Essence
I visited the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor on a beautiful April day. Pilgrims were there to visit the holy site, of course, but the mountain was also host to Jewish and Muslim families picnicking and enjoying the sunshine and natural beauty. The church itself had a transcendent…
On King Arthur & the Woman with the Issue of Blood
The young King Arthur sat in his pavilion and before him laid the crushed and broken body of one of his young knights. The young knight – who still lived – told King Arthur about a mysterious knight fully clad in black armor who dwelt deep in the forest. The…
Faith of Our Fathers: Bl. Alcuin of York
In tribute to our patron and in honor of his feast day on May 19, I would like to reflect on what philosophic wisdom Bl. Alcuin of York has to offer as we ponder the mystery of the human person. Unlike many of the Fathers whom we have already turned…
On Aslan, the Holy Spirit, and Lifeless Souls
During World War II, the Pevensie children flee to the English countryside to escape the Nazi air raids on London. The children – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy – are the guests of an eccentric but kind professor who welcomes them to his large country estate. One day, as the…
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