What we say can be as important as what we do. St. John Chrysostom reminds us that it’s up to us to decide whether we’ll use our tongues for good or for evil. First of all, we should train our tongues to be ministers of the grace of the Spirit, expelling from our mouths all hostility and ill will, and the habit of using obscenities. We have the power to make each part of our bodies a tool of evil... Read more
The things we say even in casual conversation can have profound effects on the people we say them to. St. Ambrose advises us always to keep our conversation within the limits of friendly good taste, so that we never give anyone an occasion of sin. Speech is divided into two kinds: first, as it is used in friendly conversation, and then in the treatment and discussion of matters of faith and justice. In either case we must take care that... Read more
Father Dwight Longenecker was raised an Evangelical and graduated from Bob Jones University. While there he became an Anglican and after graduation went to Oxford to train as an Anglican priest. After serving for ten years as an Anglican priest he realized he and the Anglican faith were as he calls in “on divergent paths” so in 1995 he converted to the Catholic faith with his wife and family. Eventually he returned to the United States to be ordained as... Read more
In his letter “On the Perfection of the Life of Solitaries,” St. Basil gives advice that applies not just to monks and nuns, but to every Christian. No matter what we do, it should be obvious that we’re Christians and that we take our commitment seriously. Inspired Scripture tells us many things that everyone who is eager to please God ought to do. But, for right now, I think I need only remind you of what I’ve learned from Scripture... Read more
Jesus left us many sayings, commandments, and sermons. But he also taught us by doing. St. Ignatius of Antioch tells us that it’s better to be silent and practice what we preach than to be a teacher who doesn’t act. It’s better to be silent and be a Christian, than to talk and not be a Christian. It’s good to teach—if the teacher also acts. Then there is one Teacher, who spoke, and it was done. Even those things he... Read more
Can people tell that you’re a Christian? St. John Chrysostom says we should live lives that always remind people of what we believe—not to show off, but because our example should be leading others to Christ. I see many living after their baptism more carelessly than the uninitiated, with nothing special to distinguish them in their way of life. Thus neither in the market nor in the church can you tell quickly who is a believer and who is an... Read more
Babies are born into the world helpless, completely dependent on the people who take care of them. St. Augustine, beginning the story of his own life, points out how God has ordered everything so that meeting the infant’s needs also meets the needs of the caretakers. What can I say, Lord my God, except that I don’t know how I came into this—well, should I call it a dying life, or a living death? But I have heard from my... Read more
God gave us free will, and we often misuse it. When Christians are persecuted, says St. Clement of Alexandria, it’s not God who makes it happen: every judge who condemns them has a free will and is using it wrongly. But if God cares for you, they say, then why are you persecuted and put to death? Did God make that happen? No, we don’t suppose that the Lord wants disasters to happen to us, but that he foretold prophetically... Read more
Many Catholics today misunderstand the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Catholics celebrate this feast day each year of December 8. Many people believe that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. Though that is one of the great gifts God gave to humanity it is not the one he gave in this instance. Catholic Doctrine of Mary The Immaculate Conception refers... Read more
In the natural world, things grow, die, and decay. Is God’s creation imperfect, then? No, says St. Augustine: every created thing has its place in God’s great plan, and even its decay serves the larger purpose. All natures that exist have a genus and species of their own, and a kind of internal harmony, and because of that they are certainly good. And when they are in the places assigned to them in the order of nature, they preserve the... Read more
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