Those who have been called to share the Gospel, making sure that others can receive its blessings, should make sure they do not place any obstacles in the way of its reception. They should act with love and care for all. They shouldn’t be acting as mercenaries, demanding specific monetary rewards for their work. This is not to say that they can’t hope that those who can should help them with their needs. What it means, however, is that if... Read more
Climate change is a reality, not mere speculation. This is why, instead of just theorizing what will happen in the future, we can see climate change is already causing grave harm to the world. Hot zones, floods, extreme storms, droughts, and even pandemics, are all connected to climate change. Things will only become worse if we do not take climate change seriously. Indeed, we should have taken it seriously many years ago. Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 message on the... Read more
When we read from the lives of the saints, especially ascetics who lived away from society, we often find that they have interdependent relationships with animals. They treated animals with respect, and in return, animals treated them with respect. Indeed, many of them formed close bonds of friendship with the animals who lived around them, and when they did so, this was often seen as a sign of their holiness: There was another elder at the place called Sapas whose... Read more
The dormition and assumption of Mary are two parts of one special event in salvation history. The first part, the dormition, refers to her death (as the word, dormition, employs the euphemism Paul used to represent death, that is, sleep, cf. 1. Thes. 4:13-15). Her death led directly to the second part of the event, that is, her entry into eternity, done in a special way, as she was fully assumed into heaven, body and soul, so that she could... Read more
Jesus, according to Scripture, told his followers that he would eventually be executed. We are also told that this was something which they did not want to hear: As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed (Matt. 17:22-23 RSV). Some might think that such statements were... Read more
Christian nationalism is one of the greatest distortions of the Christian faith being promoted in our present age. It has Christians absolutize and eternalize relative, conventional distinctions, using them to cut humanity apart, setting up segments of humanity as being superior to the rest. Once a particular group, established as a national entity, is set up in this fashion, it easily is turned into an idol, after which, it is worshiped. Without surprise, those who follow Christian nationalism tend to... Read more
The Christian faith is meant to lived, not just studied or spoken about. We must make sure our faith is a living faith, not a dead one. We must not assume that knowledge about the faith, and acceptance of what one has been told, is enough; we must do much more than see Christianity is good in theory; we must put it into practice. And yet, until we put do so, all that it is for us is merely a... Read more
As our faith matures, we often come to realize that our faith, as we first understood it, needs to be examined, and indeed, deconstructed, so that we can rid of it all kinds of errors which we have appropriated to it. Hopefully then we will be able to see our faith in a new light, understand it better, and allow it to grow into a new, purer but yet greater version of what we once held. What we need to... Read more
No matter how corrupted it has become, no matter how defiled it has become, everything which exists will always possess some good within it. This is not to say it will be easy for us to find that good, for obviously, more often than not, it can be extremely difficult. This is because that good is buried deep within, hidden from view, encased in all kinds of defilement. And yet, as existence itself is good, we know that nothing which... Read more
Things are not always as they seem. Jesus, to so many, seemed one to be merely a man; while he might have been one who did and said surprising things, in the end, all the thought of him was that he was just a man. This is how many see him today. They might consider him to be an odd man, one who might have said and did many extraordinary things, especially for the time and place from which he... Read more
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