If you missed this past Saturday’s show you can listen to the archive now. Timothy O’Malley and I discussed the richness of the Mass, why people don’t recognize this, and how to win them back. All of this and more from his book Bored Again Catholic: How the Mass Could Save Your Life. You can listen to the show below or download it here. Read more
God forbid we should say anything against marriage, says St. John of Damascus. After all, Christ himself honored marriage as a guest at the wedding in Cana. But virginity is a higher state—an imitation of the angels. Virginity is the rule of life among the angels, the property of all incor- poreal nature. We say this without speaking ill of marriage—God forbid! For we know that the Lord blessed marriage by His presence ( John 2:1), and we know him who... Read more
St. Augustine writes to express his joy at hearing that the daughter of an illustrious family has chosen to become a nun. It’s a glorious thing to be the mother of an extensive family, he says, but even more glorious to belong completely to Christ. Who can declare in words, or expound with adequate praises, how in- comparably greater is the glory and advantage gained by your family in giving to Christ women consecrated to his service, than in giving... Read more
St. Macrina, a great Christian teacher, showed her own mother how to live a life of asceticism and meditation—a life that her brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa, describes as being little different from the life of the angels. When the cares of bringing up a family and the anxieties of their educa- tion and settling in life had come to an end, and the property—a frequent cause of worldliness—had been for the most part divided among the children, then, as I said... Read more
You’re not likely to receive the inner truths of the Lord, says St. Gregory the Great, unless you separate yourself from external things that lead you away. “And he took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes” ( Job 2:8). This is why our Redeemer came—to scrape the scabs off our wounds, so to speak, when he said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that... Read more
One of the main things that separate us Catholics from our Christian brethren is the Eucharist. Non-Catholics have varying beliefs in what communion means for them. As Catholics, we firmly believe in the Real Presence and that what we are receiving at communion is the actual body and bluff of Jesus Christ. In his new book Around the Table: Retelling the Story of the Eucharist through the Eyes of Jesus’ First Followers Scott Hurd reveals exactly why the Eucharist is... Read more
Fasting, says St. John Chrysostom, is an extraordinarily powerful thing. It makes us mortals into angels, and it fights the demonic powers. But more important even than fasting is praying—and even if you’re too weak to fast, you can still pray. Fasting brings considerable power. It trains us in strictness, and makes a mortal into an angel, and fights against the demons. But it doesn’t do these things by itself. Prayer is needed too—and prayer must come first. Why did Christ go... Read more
Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Dionysius the Areopagite tells us that it’s not really unfair at all. In fact, it would be unfair to weaken brave Christians by letting them get attached to earthly things. When they have to struggle on earth, they come nearer to the virtue of the angels. But someone may say, “It is not the mark of justice to leave pious men without assistance when they are ground down by evil men.”... Read more
There are countless poor people and only a few rich. So why did the apostles, all of them poor, worry about their own salvation when Jesus told them how hard it was for a rich man to get into Heaven? Because, says, St. Augustine, they knew he was really talking about covetousness. When they were saying, “Who then can be saved?” were they thinking of the few rich people? Had they forgotten how many poor people there are? Couldn’t they say... Read more
If you missed this past Saturday’s show you can listen to the archive now. Scott Hurd and I discussed the Eucharist and his book Around the Table: Retelling the Story of the Eucharist through the Eyes of Jesus’ First Followers. Scott employs the Ignatian method of putting yourself into the scene and it makes for a pure joy to read. He chose 14 different biblical “characters” to explain the justhow important and wondrous the Eucharist truly is. You can listen to the show... Read more
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