One of the things which can harm us is the expectations others have for us. The more highly regarded they think we are, the greater the expectations they have for us. As many of us enjoy the praise and accolades we get, we try to fulfil those expectations, and as a result, find our lives transformed by them until it can be said we become slaves to them. This does not mean we should be selfish, ignoring our relationships with... Read more
St. Antony the Great, though remembered in history as one of the great early monastic leaders, and possibly one of the greatest monks to have ever lived, still was a human being who had to learn how to live out his life the way God intended it to be lived. He made mistakes. He sometimes did things wrong. He sometimes had to change his ways, either because he misunderstood what he should be doing, or else, because he had gained... Read more
When dealing with morality, it is one thing to talk about moral obligations in the ideal sense, where we have nothing standing in our way from choosing the greatest objective good, while it is another to deal with the actual situation which we find ourselves in, where the greatest objective good might not be possible. Objective discussions without actually dealing with concrete situations end up being pure abstractions. They are not worthless, but they do not comprehend the whole of... Read more
Some Christians like to use Paul to tell women that they have no right to speak in church (cf. 1 Cor. 14:34). They used his words out of context, absolutizing a literal interpretation of them instead of understanding the audience and reason why Paul told some women to be silent. If we accepted the interpretation which suggested women should be absolutely silent in church and have no authority to speak or teach others, we would have to conclude Paul was... Read more
God is no respecter of persons. God loves everyone and works, in mysterious ways, for the benefit and salvation of all. God will not allow sin to hinder that love. God seeks, and finds, new ways to share that love, so that no matter how many barriers are put in place, God has a way to reach out and share that love with everyone. How can we not see this is one of the lessons we are to learn from... Read more
God created the heavens, the universe, and the earth, and saw them all to be good (cf. Gen. 1:31). Humanity was told it would be the steward of the earth. With that role, humanity was given authority, that is dominion, over the earth, not to use and abuse it for our own selfish desires, but to help preserve from harm. That is, God entrusted the earth to us, but sadly, we have failed that trust; we have broken the covenant... Read more
We are told we should pray to God with faith, hope and love. We are encouraged to ask from God whatever we want, trusting that God will answer in accordance to what is best. What is important for us to remember is that our prayers should be seen as requests, reflecting, in part, what is in our heart, showing to God and ourselves what it is we desire. What we should not do with prayer is place undue demands upon... Read more
The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, the day of rest. The next day, Sunday, begins a new week; it is the first day of something new. If, however, we continue to count the days based upon the previous week, we would find the day after the Sabbath would be the eighth day. Thus, the first day of the week, Sunday, can also be described as the eighth day. It is the beginning of something new, even as... Read more
Humanity is in this world together. We might try to avoid reality. We might try to split off from each other, but in the end, we can’t. We are one. We need each other. We can’t do everything ourselves. What one person does will directly or indirectly affect everyone else. Recognizing this is a necessary precondition for us to truly grasp the meaning of original sin and the way Christ save us from its effects (as well as the effects... Read more
It has been sixty years since Pope St. John XXXIII wrote the encyclical Pacem in Terris. While many things have changed, at least accidentally, the concerns raised by him remain with us to this day. We have seen the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Sadly, we have also seen the rise of a new militant Russia, a Russia which invades other sovereign territories with the hope of assuming its own place of dominance... Read more
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