Food is what we take into ourselves for nourishment, that is, it is what we consume in order to receive the nutrients we need to maintain our life. The more we live, the more we grow, the more energy we use, the more food we will need. When we eat, we take something which is outside ourselves and find a way to incorporate into our bodies. The process is imperfect. It is very wasteful. We have to take the life... Read more
Lumen Gentium says that Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, that is, within the institutional church which was established at the beginning of Christian history. This means there is a distinction between the “Church of Christ” and the “Catholic Church.” They should not be understood as univocal, that is, the “Church of Christ” should not be understood only as the “Catholic Church,” though the Catholic Church should always be seen as participating in and having the Church of... Read more
While everyone is called to embrace some forms of self-discipline to help fight off and overcome the influence of various bad habits in their lives, a few are called to pursue that as their life mission, to represent the good of self-discipline through a life of asceticism. This is what the monastic calling is about. People are called to it so that they can serve as special signs of the kingdom of God to the world, showing everyone a unique... Read more
The Transfiguration is one of the most important events in Christ’s earthly ministry. At it, Jesus presented his eternal glory as a great overshadowing light to three chosen disciples, Peter, James, and John. That light is the eternal light of grace, the light which Jesus always had with him, though it was not always apparent, because he had emptied himself of it in relation to his humanity. Jesus demonstrated to Peter, James, and John, that glory, preparing them for the... Read more
St. Albert the Great, explaining the significance and value of the eucharist, said that we must receive it as a gift of grace. The eucharist is not something we earn. We certainly cannot do anything which would make us worthy, that is, equal, to all that is contained within it. When we partake of it, we receive Christ, and in and through Christ, we receive all the grace Christ which offers us for our salvation and sanctification (and deification): He... Read more
July 2023 was the hottest month on record. It is hard to predict all the long-term effects will come as a result of this, but we do know many of its immediate effects such as those felt in Greenland, where we can see a significant portion of its natural ice has been melted. Similarly, this had made the world’s oceans are dangerously hot, making things worse for the world, as Tim Meko and Dan Stillman reported in The Washington Post... Read more
Even when we cannot perceive the work of God in our lives, God is there. It is important for us to realize this, to use whatever methods we can to discern the truth of it. It is better if we find a way to experience the truth of it for ourselves, but it still helps if we do so through philosophical or theological reasoning. In either fashion, or better yet, in their combination, we can center our focus and attention... Read more
We should all be working together to make everything better. We can’t do everything all by ourselves. None of us can live and act entirely alone in this world. No one is an island. We rely upon each other far more than we realize. However great we think ourselves to be, we can never be completely self-sufficient. Even those who are rich and powerful rely upon the system to sustain them, for if the system changed, their wealth could become... Read more
Many legends of magical faeries coming out at night helping poor villagers with their needs could, in some fashion, have been inspired by the charitable work of various monks and nuns, and others like them, who liked to help those in need without being seen. We can read, for example, a story of one such monk in the Spiritual Meadow. No matter where he lived, he took the opportunity given to him to help those who needed it, doing whatever... Read more
Many Tolkien enthusiasts, mostly as a result of their interest in Middle Earth, misunderstand Tolkien’s sentiments. They try to use his writings to promote ideological positions which run contrary to his own beliefs and desires. This phenomenon began when he was alive, but it has only become much worse over time. Now, many of his readers try to use his works to promote sexism, racism, and warmongering, among other views which would have disgusted Tolkien. The rise of an “alt-right”... Read more
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