The king needed help, he needed guidance, he needed the knowledge and wisdom of the recently deceased prophet. What was he to do? Summoning the dead back from the grave could result in the destruction of his soul, and yet, he felt that if he did not go and get that help, all hope would be lost. And yet the question remained: Who could it be that could help him? Who could it be that would be able to connect... Read more
One of the most perplexing, and yet most humanistic, narratives in Scripture is the Book of Job.[1] A man, a great man, a righteous man, a man who seemed to have everything going well for him, lost everything. Those who knew him, his friends and family, tried to get him to admit either he caused the situation himself, through something he had done, or to curse God. He would and do neither. He would seek God, and seek an answer... Read more
One of the great difficulties of Christology is showing how Jesus Christ is said to be one, following what Scripture indicated of him: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4-6 RSV). When looking at him, we see one person, but when... Read more
On Tuesday, Mike Pence gave the deciding vote in the Senate to repeal consumer protection against the banking industry. The whole point of the rule was to allow customers to come together in class action lawsuits, pooling their resources together so they could have a better chance at a fair trial against those who have much greater resources than any one individual suing them would have. When a bank does wrong, it has the money and power to hinder any... Read more
Abba Amoun of Nitria came to see Abba Anthony and said to him, ‘Since my rule is stricter than yours how is it that your name is better known amongst men than mine is?’ Abba Anthony answered, ‘It is because I love God more than you.’[1] This saying of St. Anthony reminds us of the proper motivation for any and all spiritual work: the love of God. It is easy to get started in a good work but then end... Read more
Indeed, the church reproves every form of persecution against whomever it may be directed. Remembering then, its common heritage with the Jews and moved not by any political consideration, but solely by the religious motivation of christian charity, it deplores all hatreds, persecutions, displays of anti-semitism level at any time or from any source against the Jews. Nostra Aetate[1] At the early stages of church history, Christians and Jews had a complex relationship with each other; while there were clear... Read more
Judeo-Christian values are found in the two-fold law of love: to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves (cf. Lk. 10:26-28). The Ten Commandments, it is said, were split into two tablets, one which was about our relationship with God, and the other with our relationship to our neighbor, to the rest of humanity. Moses and Jesus both gave particulars in which these laws were to be followed. At the heart of both laws remains the truth of... Read more
Death is ever before us. Behold the man, behold the woman– behold the skull, behold the bones; behold the fate of all. The grave awaits, and all shall come to it and meet their doom. Death beckons to all, great and small, rich and poor, powerful and weak, none shall be able to withstand the grim reaper’s scythe. To live is to live in the presence of death, indeed, it is to die moment to moment, as our bodies wither... Read more
God transcends all images which we use to represent him, but, on the other hand, he comes to us, immanent in creation, revealing himself to us so that we can and do know him by his actions in the world. God reveals himself to us in the economic Trinity which is one with and properly represents the truth contained in the immanent Trinity While we cannot comprehend the Trinity as it is in itself, we can trust and believe what... Read more
In his famous essay, “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” H.P. Lovecraft began his study of weird and supernatural fiction with the observation that: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” That which is unknown is both frightening and awe-inspiring. When we are alone in a dark room and feel the presence of some unknown person looking at us from behind, we can feel our heart pace,... Read more
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