Among the many qualities Christians are expected to have is that of being kind. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12 RSV). God is love, and Christians are expected to reveal that love to the world. Indeed, it is how they are to show the world what being a Christian is about (cf. Jn. 13:35). Christians are to love others, even their enemies. They are not meant to be... Read more
Sadly, it seems that in the United States (and other countries), many politicians are interested in flexing their power. They do not care about governing, creating helpful, sane policies. Instead, they want to find a way to control the people. A common way to do this is to put in laws which keep those who are poorer, or weaker, in their place, pushing them down so they do not challenge those in power. There seems to be some kind of... Read more
Trying to live a holy life, such as the desert fathers did, can easily led to great pride, and from that pride, we end becoming judgmental and hostile to others. We try to judge them based upon our accomplishments, thinking they should be just like us. Or, if we think they might not be our equals, we then expect them to take note of what we have done, and honor us. Indeed, when they don’t treat us as highly as... Read more
After their encounter with the risen Christ, and their experience of his glorification in his ascension, early Christians were able to come together as one, allowing the grace they received counteract anything which would otherwise divide them and have them contend against each other. In this fashion, they were able to present, even if for a limited time, the eschatological church, the body of Christ, in an empirical form. That is, they were able to show the ideal which Christians... Read more
God is love. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (cf. Col. 1:15). While we come to know God through God’s works, through the uncreated energies, those works are shown to us in a comprehensible fashion through the human image of God, that is, in Jesus. All the things God does as God, Jesus does in a humanly fashion (while still, in his divine nature, doing them as God). We best come to know the goodness and love... Read more
The eucharist is the real, sacramental presence of Jesus. The real presence is not about how Jesus comes to us, giving us a mere portion of his flesh and blood (infused with his soul and divinity). Communion should not be overly simplified in this fashion. Sadly, because of the way it is often taught in popular literature, many Catholics and non-Catholics misunderstand the real presence, thinking it implies that communion gives the faithful some physical portion of Christ’s body. This... Read more
St. Leo the Great pointed out that God works with us, indeed, with the whole world, with mercy. God’s love is long-suffering and patient. God never desires to punish us but rather, to find a way for us to receive every grace we need to overcome the consequences of our sins. Nonetheless, Leo also explained, God does not force us to do so. If we don’t embrace God’s mercy and grace, we will have to face the punishment which we... Read more
Due to the importance of the council, and the limited historical records we have coming out of it, the Council of Nicea has become the stuff of legends. Stories have been told about it which have little to no empirical history to back them up. Some of them, like the story told about St. Nicholas punching Arius, have every indication of being pure fabrication. While it is possible St. Nicholas was at the council, as we do not have a... Read more
Christ’s ascent into heaven after the resurrection should not be understood merely as a physical elevation, as if he took off like a rocket, going to outer-space. It is about a metaphysical elevation, that is, the completion of the transformation of human nature as it is glorified and brought into the eschaton. This is portrayed symbolically; we are presented with a description of the ascent where it is said that he ascended into the sky, into the heavens. This presentation... Read more
The way Pope Francis placed 21 Coptic martyrs into the official Roman Catholic martyrology has left some people confused. How can Catholics recognize non-Catholic martyrs as saints? Even if Catholics can do it unofficially, should not the breach in communion between Rome and Alexandria make it that they are not given official status? Yet, the history of the church shows this is not unknown. We can find many saints whose status of saints can be seen as surprising if we... Read more
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