Orthodoxy without orthopraxis is not true orthodoxy. We are expected to live out our faith. This doesn’t mean we should merely stop doing all those things which we are told we are not to do, all the “thou shalt nots,” but also, and especially, we should embrace the positive content of our faith and what it encourages us to do. For, if we believe, then we will live out our lives doing the good which it tells us about. Hopefully... Read more
From Dostoevsky’s House of the Dead, reflecting upon his own prison experience, to The Shawshank Redemption, based upon Stephen King’s Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, literature and films have a way of presenting the needs of prisoners, showing their humanity, and in doing show, proving that they should be treated with dignity and respect. Their needs should not squashed. They need socialization. They need love. They need people to care for them. They need some level of freedom so that... Read more
One of many problems which arise when talking about God is that people can and will different things by the word, sometimes at the same time. We can, for example, mean the one who created all things, that is, use it to imply some sort of creator figure behind the universe. If we mean that, we will not always think of the creator figure in the same way; we will predicate to the creator all kinds of things, some which... Read more
With the Great Fast, Lent, it is easy for many, especially those who are new to Lent, or those who have found themselves having some sort of spiritual renaissance in their life, to get so caught up with the fast, and the externals (or rules) used in regards the fast, that they forget what the fast is all about. Fasting should never be the goal. The rules are not absolutes. There many reasons why normative fasting disciplines can be, and... Read more
“As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for disputes over opinions” (Rom. 14:1 RSV). We should be welcoming to everyone, including, and especially, fellow Christians. Not everyone, including fellow Christians, will be like us. They will have different views and opinions, different levels of understanding or faith than we do. Some will know and understand more, some less. Some will have greater faith, others, less. We should make sure those who are weak in... Read more
Some people want to make Catholics think that President Biden, and the US government, is targeting them. They act as if religious liberty is under threat. They did this during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now they are doing it after learning that the FBI was interested in, and investigating, various right-wing “radical-traditionalist Catholic” groups. Many, if not most of these groups can hardly be said to be Catholic, as they are not in communion with the Pope of Rome. Moreover,... Read more
So many well-off, rich people like to think themselves as being good and very charitable towards others simply because they basically give away scraps to people in need. Yes, the amount they give might be substantial, in one sense, such as those who give away a ten-thousand dollars to a charitable contribution. On the other hand, if what they make in the time it takes to write a check is more than the check itself, clearly, they are only giving... Read more
Recently, there have been many theological discussions and debates centering around the subject of universalism, the teaching that somehow, in the end (eschaton), everyone (and everything) in creation will end up “saved” (and not just in an objective manner). That is, there are many debating (and condemning) those who declare that it is necessary to conclude there will be no one who suffers eternal, or perpetual, perdition (however perdition is interpreted). One of the problems involved with such debates is... Read more
We must care for each other. We can’t ignore those suffering from abuse, those facing injustice, if we love them. This is because we can’t stand on by seeing a loved-one suffer if there is something we can do about it. Even if we can’t, we will try to comfort them the best we can. Love is the key. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. If and when we ignore someone in need, we more than we... Read more
The grace we have been given is not to be used to ignore the consequences of whatever injustices we have committed but rather to help as change for the better. Not only are we called to act justly ourselves, we are called to promote justice in society, that is, social justice. We are not to neglect the common good. We are given grace not just for our own good, but for the good of everyone. Similarly, though we are shown... Read more
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