The Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers, some of the most inspirational figures of the monastic tradition, knew that they had to do more than study the faith and speak about it to others; they knew that had to put it into practice. They understood the way words could get in the way of such practice. They knew we could get caught up in the letter and not the spirit of the Christian faith. They wanted to receive, and many of... Read more
Grace purifies, illuminates, and perfect those who cooperate with it. Its transformative power is said to deify those who perfectly join with it so that they can be called gods. It is true, they will not be gods by nature, but they will become gods by grace as they participate in and experience the divine nature.  This is how and why Moses was said to have become like a god for Pharoah: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I... Read more
To study the teachings of the faith can be a good thing, but to live out those teachings is better. To memorize and know doctrine can be a good thing, but to judge others and browbeat them for not knowing obscure teachings of the faith is not. Doctrine is meant to show us the way to the fullness of the truth. We must not confuse our ability to argue with and debate others about doctrine as being sufficient to produce... Read more
Politics requires prudence, realizing what is and is not possible in a given context. Politicians have to make deals and temper their ideals in order to work for the common good. They must recognize the implications of their legislation, and if imposing a particular law would make things worse, even if it follows from a proper moral principle, they must reject that law and preserve the greater good. This is why St. Thomas Aquinas did not support legislation which  would... Read more
St. Antony the Great understood humility was vital for the Christian life, making it doubly important for those who would take on the religious life for themselves (that is, those who had a monastic profession). Asceticism is supposed to help us embrace self-denial, while pride, the opposite of humility, embraces the self and props it up. Even we do much which is good, even if we put into practice many particular virtues, they find themselves going astray if we do... Read more
One of St. Jerome’s sources for his theological writings, especially his commentaries on Scripture, was Origen. Despite the way Jerome, Theophilus of Alexandria, and others fought against Origenism, they could be found engaging Origen, such as when they were needing insight into difficult passages of Scripture. They understood Origen’s contributions to Christian theology was important and that they could and did learn from him. Their dispute was over various details of Origen’s thought and not all his principles or contributions... Read more
We are contingent beings. No matter how great we become in the world, all that greatness is also contingent. We need to remember this at all times so that we should not become trapped by the way things appear to be in a given moment. If we seem to be great, it is not our doing alone. All that we have, all that we have made of ourselves, could not be without others. Our contingency makes us dependent beings, and... Read more
The story of Noah’s Ark indicates God’s desire for humanity to take care of and preserve animal life, making sure not one species becomes extinct. Noah, acting on what God told him to do, made sure the flood did not become a mass extinction event. The story shows how Noah, in his actions, fulfilled the stewardship that humanity had been granted over creation. It is a responsibility which did not end with Noah but continues with us to this day... Read more
The phenomenon of evil raises many questions, especially in relation to how God can be justified if God allows such evil to happen. There have been and remain many ways to answer those concerns. However logical, however invaluable each potential solution might be, there always are more questions which can be raised. No one answer seems to be satisfactory. This is why it is invaluable for us to raise several different potential answers, with each giving a new angle, a... Read more
Life is precious. Every moment of life gives us the opportunity to change thing, to make them better. This is one of the many reasons why we should never take any moment for granted. Every moment is short lived, but it gives all it has taken in and all that has happened in it and renders it all to the next moment.  While we should learn from the past, and realize how it sets us up for the present, we... Read more
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