The resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week is also symbolically understood as happening on the eighth day creation, representing the eternal and everlasting joy of heaven which comes after the sabbath rest. For Jesus fulfilled in his death the perfect sabbath rest, and so in his resurrection, he brings us to the new week, the new creation. On the first day of creation God is said to have separated the light from darkness, good from evil... Read more
Saint Theotimus of Tomi was one of the many “illustrious men” whom St. Jerome wrote about in his little work of Christian history, saying of him, “Theotimus, bishop of Tomi, in Scythia, has published brief and epigrammatical treatises, in the form of dialogues, and in olden style. I hear that he is now writing other works.”[1] Sadly, save for quotes found in the texts of other writers, like St John of Damascus, the works of St. Theotimus have been lost... Read more
He also said, “God does not allow the same warfare and temptations to this generation as he did formerly, for men are weaker now and cannot bear so much.”[1] It would be easy to misconstrue this saying of St. Anthony if we ignore the context in which it was stated. When Anthony first entered the desert to become a hermit, Christians were still being persecuted and executed by Roman authorities. At one point, Anthony returned to the city to minister... Read more
Providence is an important, albeit, difficult concept to explore. Because we are dealing with the way God, the simple, eternal unmoving mover, acts in relation to the temporal order, God’s providence will remain a paradoxical mystery to those of us whose only experience of it is in the temporal sphere. We can seek to understand it, and we will be able to grasp parts of it, but to comprehend it is beyond our ability. At best, we will have to... Read more
God, the Father through the Son and with the Holy Spirit, created the universe and all that was in it. God established the boundaries, that is, the natures of those things which he created. How? By the Word, by the Logos; they found themselves to be logoi reflecting the one Logos of God: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were... Read more
After all the debate over the so-called Benedict Option, I decided to invite Grima Wormtongue to offer his own advice for the future of Catholicism. Today, Spy Wednesday, he got back with me and offered the following words: The world is a mess. Danger lurks everywhere. Evil is winning. Look. The world is changing. Everything you knew about the world of your youth is gone. The landscape is all different. Evil is afoot. There is really nothing much you can... Read more
Perhaps one of the more confusing Scriptural passages to interpret comes from when Jesus talks about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. He says, contrary to our expectations that God seeks to save all sinners, that those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age, or worse, in eternity: Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word... Read more
Jacob, who was later renamed Israel, served in himself a representation of all the people of God. His life, his struggles, certainly were his own, but they also participate in and exemplify the difficulties that anyone who is to be found in the people of the true and eternal Israel will experience, in one form or another. As the Holy Spirit worked with human authors to put his stories down for us to remember him and his achievements, the Holy... Read more
The Great Fast is over. Palm Sunday, on the Byzantine Calendar, starts Holy Week, which is distinct from the Great Fast. With the end of the fast, we have a minor celebration, a time of joy as we remember when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and his subsequent entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem: Christ our God, before your passion you confirmed our common resurrection when You raised Lazarus from the dead. Therefore like the children we carry the symbols... Read more
In The City of God, St. Augustine gave an extensive, although highly polemical, exploration of the beliefs and teachings of the preeminent pagan philosophers. In it, he often noted what they had in common with the Christian faith in contrast to popular religious beliefs and practices. He was especially interested when their reflections led to some understanding of a transcendent first Principle or One which created and guided the universe. This, he believed, showed they had come to some understanding... Read more
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