Abba Poemen, an influential abba, gave advice when monks came to him for spiritual direction. Often, they had questions for him which indicated they had some sort of misunderstanding concerning the spiritual life, a misunderstanding which is common not just for ascetics, but by Christians from all walks of life. Poemen responded with wisdom which could and should be applied by a variety of people. He wanted to make sure those who listened to him did not end up becoming... Read more
The preferential option for the poor and vulnerable must never be ignored, let alone rejected, by Christians. God takes into consideration our weakness and our needs, even if some of those needs come from things we have done to hurt ourselves, and responds to them with love, coming down to meet us on our level. God did this in a variety of ways, including in the way God has revealed the truth to us: “First of all, we must realize... Read more
The institutional church has faced and continues to face scandal after scandal because many who had been given positions of power and authority because they appeared to be holy and just were completely unworthy of the trust given to them. They were wolves in sheep’s clothing. In one way or another they abused that trust by the way they treated people, some of course, being far worse than others in this regard. What they had done would have been scandal... Read more
The cross is raised up both as a guide, indicating the way we should live our life, and also as a sign of love, divine and human. Christ upon the cross reveals to us the way we should live, that is, the way of self-giving love, showing us that it is the way which God’s love is actualized. It is for this reason when we take up the cross for ourselves, we should realize we do it, not out sadism,... Read more
Each and every human person shares with each other the one and the same human nature; by nature, they are not only equal, they are meant to united together as one. Sin undermines that natural unity. It has humanity divide up against itself, turning persons into individuals who are no longer equal to each other, and the more they sin, the more such individuals will find themselves divided against each other, with some of them being obtaining more than their... Read more
The state should protect the common good, and with it, human rights, including the rights of those who are not citizens of the state. Human rights are universal, meaning, they transcend borders. This was, in part, one of the ideas which the founders of the United States employed to justify their independence from Great Britain; they believed that their rights had be violated, and to protect them, they had to cut ties from England. While it is good to see... Read more
Selfishness encourages us to seek our own private gain at the expense of others. It will encourage us to do things for own immediate gratification, and, because we find some initial satisfaction when we attain that gratification, it might seem our actions are justified. However, whatever pleasure we receive will only be temporary, and once it is gone, we will find ourselves in a worse position than we were before we acted, for our selfishness will have had us become... Read more
God transcends all names, even the name of God. But, to deal with God, we give God many names, coming both from our experience with God and from revelation. They reflect the various activities of the one we call God; we must not confuse the names, and how we understand them, as being univocal with the way they are in the divine nature itself. Because of the way our minds work, as they seek to divide even things which are... Read more
Spiritual masters warn us that we will likely encounter all kinds of temptations throughout our temporal existence. We should not be surprised by them. We should not fall into despair when we experience them. We should know that they are trials which help build us up, and in this fashion, see them as a sign of hope, a sign that we have been given the opportunity to grow and become better. We do not have to give into temptation (and,... Read more
Christianity is a religion of mercy and grace, but such mercy and grace would be worthless if it were not also a religion of truth and justice. The truth matters. Justice matters. Mercy and grace only make sense if we recognize that satisfaction must be made for injustices. Neither would be needed if we are not to be held responsible for what we do, that is, for our sin. Both are necessary once we understand the harm we have done... Read more
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