James warns us not to take the divine “law” in any of its variations in a legalistic manner. He wanted us to realize it was established for us and our own good, not us, as he made clear in relation to the Sabbath (cf. Mk. 2:27). When we misunderstand the law and try to embrace it in the most legalistic fashion, establishing rules upon rules which all are expected to follow, any violation of it, however minor an infraction, is... Read more
In his video message, which includes his prayer intention for July (2023), Pope Francis tells us: “If you are the same at the end of Mass as you were at the beginning, something is wrong.” [1] He reminds us that when we partake of communion, the transformation which began with the bread and wine should continue in and with us. To properly receive the eucharist, to worthily receive it, as it were, we should be ready for that transformation, so... Read more
While the integral goodness of creation has been marred and hurt by sin, sin has not been able to have it completely destroyed. Creation is good by nature, and that goodness continues to be present to it in its continuing existence. So long as creation exists, that goodness can never be completely snuffed out. To be sure, creation is defiled by sin, with some elements having sin corrupt it more than others, but nonetheless, no matter how wounded it is,... Read more
Christians should look to others, to non-Christians, with hope and love. They should see the zeal others have for their religious faith as a good thing, even if it might in some fashion or another be misplaced. Certainly, such misplaced zeal is not only to be found with non-Christians: many Christians likewise have it, as can be seen in the way it has many of them glorify themselves with triumphalist rhetoric which they use to denigrate others. Zeal is good,... Read more
Many Christians have not gone back to church services after the pandemic. Even if there never had been a pandemic, many of them would have stopped going because they were already becoming disillusioned with their faith community. The pandemic only served as a catalyst to speed things up. Many left, feeling no need to come back. Others believed that the reaction of many fellow Christians, including and especially the leadership of various Christian communities (priests, pastors, et. al.) proved they... Read more
Sts. Peter and Paul were both great men. They were not perfect. They made all kinds of mistakes. They had all kinds of foibles. They failed to live up to their potential many times. Yet, despite all of that, they embraced their mission, their identity in Christ, and in doing so, allowed grace to make them great. One can say that their greatness lay, in part, with the fact that they did not let their failures define them. If they... Read more
We are not to judge others because we rarely have the basis to make a proper judgment about them. All we know is what we see. That is, we judge by external appearances. We judge by the things they let us see. We judge by looking at and examining a few actions. Thus, if what we know of someone is one or two actions they have done, no matter how good or bad they are, we do not know enough... Read more
The Christian faith presents the great, transcendent mystery of God, a mystery which is includes God’s loving relationship with us. Human language cannot properly express the fullness of the truth, but it can point to it. We can be directed to where it is to be found. We can, as it were, apprehend it, but we can never comprehend it. That apprehension, however, does allow us to have access to the truth, and through that access, to discern how some... Read more
The dignity of work is intricately linked to the dignity of the worker. Work for work’s sake is idolatrous. Work is meant for a purpose, which is, to help with the common good, a good which is to include the needs of the workers themselves. If a worker does not get their proper share of the common good, or if work does not contribute to the common good, but subverts it, as happens when many rich employers exploit workers, then... Read more
Jesus said he came to help the poor, to heal those suffering from all kinds of diseases and physical ailments, indeed, to liberate the oppressed from their oppression. He made this clear when he read from Isaiah and said that the words of the prophet were fulfilled by him, experienced by those in his presence: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to... Read more
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