Originally Titled ‘A Catholic Flavored Commentary on Romans 7. By Craig Truglia, Sept. 2015. With the help of Augustine, we undergo exegeting perhaps the most confusing chapter of the Bible. Does a Christian, who is dead to sin, still sin? Can he lose his salvation? Is he even the one sinning? What is the Flesh?… Read More Romans 7 and our Spiritual – Existential Predicament
“A good and devout man arranges in his mind the things he has to do, not according to the whims of evil inclination but according to the dictates of right reason. Who is forced to struggle more than he who tries to master himself? This ought to be our purpose, then: to conquer self, to… Read More Free from a multitude of opinions
“Today the first and perhaps the only duty of the philosopher is to defend man against himself: to defend man against that extraordinary temptation toward inhumanity to which—almost without being aware of it—so many human beings today have yielded.” —- Gabriel Marcel Let me say this before rain becomes a utility that they can plan… Read More Thomas Merton on Creation: The Rain is Not for Sale
Aridity and Spiritual Progress By Father Gabriel of St Mary Magdalene, O.C.D. Even without the presence of other causes, it is possible to pass from a state of sensible spiritual fervor to one of absolute aridity. This happens by the direct work of God which makes it impossible for the soul to pray with the help of… Read More If God invites the soul by means of aridity…
… and the Challenges for Leo. “In his May 12 article in First Things — “Francis is Full” — Bishop Robert Barron eloquently wrote of the late Pontiff’s many positive accomplishments as well as some very serious problems like a legacy of disunity. Bishop Barron’s evaluation of Pope Francis’ ministry provides a lens through which… Read More Dr. Ralph Martin on Bishop Barron and the fraught legacy of Francis
When the heretic Hans Kung met with Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, Kung said it was a deeply personal conversation. Benedict said he “respected” Kung’s “path” (without agreeing with it all). He urged Kung to teach students in regard to world religions and in other areas; and so, again, an ominous pluralism was seen to… Read More Hans Kung and Benedict XVI
By Gary Potter. The subject here is a movie, one I think could be the most important made in my lifetime, at least in terms of cinema’s future. Its importance doesn’t make it a favorite nor even that I have especially enjoyed seeing it. Do we “enjoy” seeing, say, Shakespeare’s Richard III? A particular production… Read More Terrance Malick’s “The Tree of Life”
“The natural man does not understand the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” — 1 Corinthians 2:14 Tim Staples, a Catholic writer, says, “…from a philosophical perspective, the soul is pure spirit and is the form of… Read More The Natural Man Does Not Understand
“The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners —-of whom I am the worst16 but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him… Read More God Is Not Out To ‘Get’ us. He is Out to Heal Us.
The hollowest sunken-eyed 90 poundforsaken waif, kicking papers under the night’s dim street lamps, is looking for repose, every bit as much as you or I, loaded with sins and hope. It is wrong. It’s wrong, to walk by without a look at him or her who could have been you or I, servicing another… Read More You or I
“Our peace in this life is found in humbly enduring suffering rather than in being free from it. He who knows best how to suffer will enjoy the greater peace, because he is the conqueror of himself, the master of the world, a friend of Christ, and an heir of heaven.”— Thomas a Kempis, Imitation… Read More The Cross of Jesus Christ and Suffering Love.
Blaise Pascal (19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer, writes, “When I consider the brief span of my life, swallowed up in the eternity before and behind it, the small space that I fill, or even see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces which I know not, and which know not me, I am… Read More Pascal and Grace: Piercing The Blindness of Pride
The most subtly banned Name in all of Social Media is the Name of Jesus Christ, the Christ of the Gospel, the Christ of history, and the Christ of Faith. This is true of the West in general. On the Internet we will find the ill-defined cover-all name-term “God,” and many other equally vague substitutes,… Read More Not ‘God’. God in Christ.
“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
“O Lord, You are my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? You are the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident. One… Read More Whom Shall I Fear? Expect the Lord.
“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”—Jn.16:33. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Mary as “blessed among women”. Pope John Paul II 1. The liturgy today commemorates theNativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.This feast, very important to popular piety, leads us to admire in Mary the… Read More Praying for the Children
CNA. After the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAFL) last month issued a booklet summarizing the Church’s teaching on a number of bioethical issues, the section on “artificial nutrition and hydration” (ANH) has some observers concerned about what they see as a departure from previous Church teaching. The Pontifical Academy for Life was founded in 1994 by St.… Read More Bioethicists scrutinize Pontifical Academy for Life’s new guidance on withdrawing food, water
Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men between the late ‘70s and early ‘90s, killing them in the most horrendous ways. His killing spree involved rape, dismemberment, necrophilia, and cannibalism. Few crimes in modern history are seen as disgusting and evil as Dahmers’. Police discovered mutilated bodies, refrigerated skulls, a shrine and a barrel with headless torsos,… Read More Jeffrey Dahmer’s Confession
Romans 8: 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of… Read More Holding On, Pressing On
Traditionally called St. Patrick’s Breastplate. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,Through belief in the Threeness,Through confession of the Onenessof the Creator of creation. I arise todayThrough the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism,Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,Through… Read More Courage and Strength Through the Sacred Heart of Jesus
St. Bernard declared forcefully, “[You may say] I have committed a great sin. My conscience will be troubled but I will not despair because I remember the wounds of my Lord. For indeed, He was wounded for our iniquities. What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be remitted through the death of Christ?… Read More Never to despair
Home diocese of the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (CNA) “… The decision to drastically downsize the diocese comes amid declining Mass attendance there as well as a prediction of a shrinking number of priests. Seventy percent of the 145 total priests ministering in the diocese are over the age of 50. According to the diocese’s projections, in… Read More Peoria Diocese to reduce the number of parishes in the diocese by half
Modern or post-modern man (i.e., the human person, m/f) is characterized by and attached to ambiguity and relativity. Truth, the very notion of it, is suspect. As a human being, I am obliged to truly encounter my world, my times. It has engaged me. I am now 70 years old. I have tried to engage… Read More The Light and Life of Being
History is full of surprises. One such surprise is the manner in which the secularist cataclysm of the French Revolution prompted a religious revival across the Channel in England. It was indeed ironic that the new spirit of absolute religious intolerance in France following that country’s Revolution of 1789 prompted a new spirit of relative… Read More Joseph Pearce on Secular Revolution & Hope: A History Lesson
I could never have expected his dying like that.I thought there were things he was still looking forward to. Despite it all… He had quit smoking.Do men contemplating suicide quit smoking? He seemed to have gottenover his divorce. I guess people do. He was in his late 40s. A gifted carpenter.The business and crews which… Read More Suicide.
Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. — Hebrews 12:14. I hope. I hope holiness means the striving for holiness. I’ve wanted it, holiness, ever since I was an aimless teenager. Today I am in my seventh decade and I know I am not… Read More How I Hope for Us All.
“The Order of the Parts of the universe to each other exists in virtue of the Order of the Whole universe to God.” — St. Thomas Aquinas, C.G.1,83 By Malcom Muggeridge First Lux! “From its triumphant opening: In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God,and the Word was God,” to its beautiful… Read More Into the Darkness Comes the Light.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen writes, “If we save our life in this world, we lose it in the next; if we lose our life in this world, we save it in the next. If we sow in sin, we reap corruption; if we sow in truth, we reap life everlasting. But we cannot do both.… Read More The fast or the feast?
“Sinners themselves admit the magnitude of their misery, as we read in the Book of Wisdom: “We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction, and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we did not know. What has pride profited us? Or what advantage has the boasting of riches… Read More The Destiny of Wickedness
The Palestinian Argument Today. Context, 2004. Dershowitz: The Case for Israel and Palestine. Debate: Norman Finkelstein vs. Alan Dershowitz (2003). Image Source: Politico “The Dershowitz–Finkelstein affair was a public controversy involving academics Alan Dershowitz and Norman Finkelstein and their scholarship on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2005. Shortly after the publication of the book The Case for Israel, by Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, Norman Finkelstein… Read More Israel and Palestine Today. Dershowitz–Finkelstein.
Overcoming Dark Emotions. St. Francis de Sales’ wrote, “The persons for whom I write are those only who are determined not to commit any fault deliberately, though many [fall into] them through surprise, inadvertence, and weakness, notwithstanding their resolution. It usually happens that such persons are astonished and troubled at their faults, conceive a false… Read More Discouraged?
By Karl Keating, New Oxford Review “…I have a favorite line from Pope Leo XIII. It’s from Rerum Novarum (1891), the first of the social encyclicals. Nearly every pope since his time has written one or more social encyclicals. The line I remember isn’t quite as Leo wrote it. Often we remember lines a little… Read More A Life’s Worth of Failure, an Abundance of Gratitude
By Father Gabriel of St Mary Magdalene, O.C.D. Even without the presence of other causes, it is possible to pass from a state of sensible spiritual fervor to one of absolute aridity. This happens by the direct work of God which makes it impossible for the soul to pray with the help of the mind… Read More Aridity and Spiritual Progress
Francis X. Maier writes. , “… We live in unsettled times. Elites in the developed world have been shedding Christianity like dead skin for decades. Their grip on our popular entertainment, news content, and emerging technologies has dragged many millions of otherwise good people along with them. Big corporations wield inordinate political power. Unelected government… Read More Not Comfortable but Free
James 4:2: “you have not, because you ask not.“ The great Doctor of the Church, Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, wrote, “The absolute necessity of prayer is taught throughout the Holy Scriptures, and by all the holy Fathers; while, on the other hand, I see that Christians are very careless in their practice of this great… Read More “Those who pray will be saved, those who do not will be lost”
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” — Matt. 2:18 Ireland: Irish journalist John Waters, who started his journalistic career writing about youth and Rock ‘n Roll, sadly notes, “There was a moment close to the beginning… Read More Lamentation For Ireland. John Waters
“The Christian may not despair; i.e ., he may not give up hoping that God will forgive his sins, or help him in adversity. Cain despaired when he said: “My sin is too great to be forgiven” ( Gen . iv. 13 ). Saul despaired by throwing himself on his sword when hard pressed in… Read More The Christian may not despair.
Our Lord Jesus Christ gives up(1) on none. Nobody. God help us from ever holding on to any Pharisee within. Brennan Manning writes of brokenness, “My life is a witness to vulgar grace — a grace that amazes as it offends. A grace that pays the eager beaver who works all day long the same… Read More Vulgar Grace
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
Fr. Robert Reed [today auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston and the president of the television network CatholicTV] prays the Sorrowful Mysteries for all who are physically or mentally suffering in our time, and for the dying.
Catholic Critique 