(1) The Odyssey, an epic Greek poem [attributed to Homer], tells the story of King Odysseus and his heroic struggle against the gods. The tale begins when the ship of Odysseus is blown off course on the way home from the Trojan Wars. In his effort to get home, Odysseus lands on an island where… Read More Lashed to the Mast
Jesus Christ: “given unto us” (Isa 9.6): This “true Man” has been the subject of the most sublime contemplation, worship, and love imaginable for over two thousand years. Even agnostics marvel over his Person and teachings. And His enemies, of whatever variety, obsess over Him to this very day. For in that crib, the Church… Read More Jesus Christ, Light of the World
Note: Citing what I regard as a significant insight from an important author clearly does not imply an unconditional endorsement of the author’s entire philosophy, theology or worldview. SH ~~ — Excerpt from Mariology by Michael Schmaus in The Concise Sacramentum Mundi edited by theologian Karl Rahner. Michael Schmaus (17 July 1897 – 8 December 1993)… Read More Christology and Mariology. Karl Rahner.
One body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Father of us all” — Eph. 4: 4-6 Every ecclesial community brings its tradition(s) to bear in the exegesis and understanding of Scripture. Even independent Protestant Fundamentalist pastors and larger Protestant denominations(1) employ their traditions [i.e., their received community understanding of texts] as a… Read More Catholicism, Tradition and Protestantism
Excerpt from The Mother of the Savior and Our Interior Life. [+ See also, Our Blessed Mother Mary in the Order of Grace. “Fundamentalist Protestant incomprehension of the Catholic doctrine regarding Mary, the Theotokos or Mother of God, is largely and essentially an incomprehension of the Incarnation itself, whereby the Word, who is God, was made… Read More The Predestination of Mary by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
[As used by the Franciscan Fathers on their missions]. See also: Christ’s Victory Over Death and Postmodern Despair. + First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death 0 Jesus So meek and uncomplaining, teach me resignation + Second Station: Jesus Carries His Cross My Jesus This Cross should be mine, not Thine! My sins crucified thee!… Read More A Short Way of The Cross
Alas, it’s been a tough winter here in New England where I live. A couple of weeks ago, while shoveling some of our winter snow, I slipped on hidden ice and took an impressive fall. I immediately knew my right shoulder was likely broken. For about ten minutes I was alone on my back on… Read More A Last Things Podcast
Trent Horn earned master’s degrees in the fields of theology, philosophy, and bioethics. He serves as a staff apologist for Catholic Answers, where he specializes in teaching Catholics to graciously and persuasively engage those who disagree with them. Trent models that approach each week on the radio program Catholic Answers Live and on his own podcast, The Counsel… Read More Trent Horn: What Charlie Kirk Gets Wrong About the Catholic Church
Signs of contradiction. Sunday January 6, 2013. And the Protestant Worship Problem. Let us return to the Wise Men from the East. These were also, and above all, men of courage, the courage and humility born of faith. Courage was needed to grasp the meaning of the star as a sign to set out, to… Read More Pope Benedict XVI on the Epiphany
“Failure is a better teacher than success.” Variants of this old saying have been attributed to a number of different people over the years. It has also been the rallying cry of sports teams, working professionals, academics, entrepreneurs and almost anyone else who has struggled, failed and been determined to come back stronger. People make… Read More 7 Famous Sinners and What We Can Learn From Them
“We, the Ordinary People of the Streets“. The words express the core of Madeleine Delbrel’s vision: These are the people who have an ordinary job, an ordinary household, or an ordinary celibacy. People with ordinary sicknesses, and ordinary times of grieving. People with an ordinary house, and ordinary clothes. These are the people of ordinary… Read More We the Ordinary
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”— Jn.1:5 “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not his Son into the world, to condemn the world, but that… Read More Mary, The Good News and the ‘Book’ of the Meek
Due to Original Sin, apart from grace we inevitably fall back into “the lust of of flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 Jn 2:14-16) and into idolatry, just as the children of Israel grew tired of waiting for Moses, for God’s very Word, and so collapsed into the abyss… Read More The Golden Calf Our Default Condition
On overcoming. St. Augustine teaches, “When the unlawful pleasure of concupiscence tempts you, fight, resist, do not consent; and the saying is fulfilled, Go not after thy desires.” Still further, he says elsewhere that of two persons who have the same temptation to impurity, it sometimes happens that one consents to it and the other… Read More Predominant Sin of Our Times
Another aspect of the Marian life is the imitation of Mary. Jesus alone is the “Way” that leads to the Father, He is the only model; but who is more like Jesus than Mary? Of whom more than of Mary can it be said that she has the same thoughts as Christ? “O Lady,” exclaims… Read More The Marian Life
Father Gabriel of St Mary Magdalene, O.C.D., The Marian Life, Divine Intimacy “The high place which Mary, as the Mother of God, occupies in the work of our sanctification fully justifies our desire to live intimately with her. As children love to be near their mother, so we as Christians want to live with Mary,… Read More By Means of the Beatific Vision
In his 1987 encyclical letter, Redemptoris Mater, Pope Saint John Paul II writes, “Thanks to his special bond, linking the Mother of Christ with the Church, there is further clarified the mystery of that “woman” who from the first chapters of Genesis until the Book of Revelation, accompanies the revelation of God’s salvific plan for humanity. For Mary,… Read More Mary the Mother of May
Perhaps most Catholics know her story. Saint Margaret of Castello was born into a well-to-do family near Florence, Italy in 1287. To the great distress of her parents, upon her birth they discovered that she suffered from a variety of severe physical ailments. She was a dwarf, had a curved spine that left her hunched… Read More Patron St. Margaret of Castello
Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene writes, “The Blessed Virgin teaches us to believe in our vocation to sanctity, to divine intimacy. We did believe in it when God revealed it to us in the brightness of interior light, and the words of His minister confirmed it; but we should also believe in it when… Read More Mary’s Faith
“Turn not aside after ill-gotten gain, neither say: This life is all I need―for when the hour of vengeance cometh, the hour when thou shalt have all things taken from thee, this life will be nothing to thee. When thou art lusty, follow not the desire of thine heart, neither say: How can I do… Read More “Turn Not Aside” We Are Told.
Trent Horn: Nearly four years ago, I debated the reformed apologist, James White, at the Atlanta G3 Conference on the subject, can a Christian lose his salvation? And I bring that up because in the debate, the topic of today’s podcast came up, which would be the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. “Welcome to… Read More Trent Horn on the Theology of the Assumption of Mary
By Saint Louis de Montfort, Doctor of The Church, great luminary of St. John Paul II, writes, “If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins “you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4). Even if you are on the… Read More The Rosary, Hope Even for Great Sinners
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