Grace gives us what we need to be saved; it acts as a medicine, healing us from all the wounds sin has inflicted upon us in our lives. Grace comes from God. No matter what we have done, no matter how far we have strayed, no matter how much we have been defiled and wounded by sin, God is able to provide us what we need to be made whole. This is why we have every reason to believe that... Read more
Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath showed us the way people, trying to better themselves, can be forced to get into unending debt as a result. This was what happened to the Joad family, and as such, they found themselves being exploited by those with wealth. The Great Depression forced them to become migrant workers, picking fruit at such a low pay they found themselves growing deeper and deeper in debt the more they worked. To be sure, during the Great... Read more
“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2 RSV).We have a responsibility to the world we live in. We should try to make things better, not worse. The more we look at the world as something to use for the sake of our own pleasure, instead of a good which deserves to be... Read more
The truth is good. This is why the knowing and willing violation of the truth is said to be “intrinsically evil.” Those who willingly seek to deceive others, that is, those who knowingly state some falsehood, or encourage others to believe it, without being forced to do so by someone else, are culpable for their lie. If someone were forced to make a statement under torture, one which they do not agree with and believe to be false, they cannot... Read more
Those who have been called to share the Gospel, making sure that others can receive its blessings, should make sure they do not place any obstacles in the way of its reception. They should act with love and care for all. They shouldn’t be acting as mercenaries, demanding specific monetary rewards for their work. This is not to say that they can’t hope that those who can should help them with their needs. What it means, however, is that if... Read more
Climate change is a reality, not mere speculation. This is why, instead of just theorizing what will happen in the future, we can see climate change is already causing grave harm to the world. Hot zones, floods, extreme storms, droughts, and even pandemics, are all connected to climate change. Things will only become worse if we do not take climate change seriously. Indeed, we should have taken it seriously many years ago. Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 message on the... Read more
When we read from the lives of the saints, especially ascetics who lived away from society, we often find that they have interdependent relationships with animals. They treated animals with respect, and in return, animals treated them with respect. Indeed, many of them formed close bonds of friendship with the animals who lived around them, and when they did so, this was often seen as a sign of their holiness: There was another elder at the place called Sapas whose... Read more
The dormition and assumption of Mary are two parts of one special event in salvation history. The first part, the dormition, refers to her death (as the word, dormition, employs the euphemism Paul used to represent death, that is, sleep, cf. 1. Thes. 4:13-15). Her death led directly to the second part of the event, that is, her entry into eternity, done in a special way, as she was fully assumed into heaven, body and soul, so that she could... Read more
Jesus, according to Scripture, told his followers that he would eventually be executed. We are also told that this was something which they did not want to hear: As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed (Matt. 17:22-23 RSV). Some might think that such statements were... Read more
Christian nationalism is one of the greatest distortions of the Christian faith being promoted in our present age. It has Christians absolutize and eternalize relative, conventional distinctions, using them to cut humanity apart, setting up segments of humanity as being superior to the rest. Once a particular group, established as a national entity, is set up in this fashion, it easily is turned into an idol, after which, it is worshiped. Without surprise, those who follow Christian nationalism tend to... Read more
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