We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to take care of them and their needs, just as we take care of our own. This love should motivate us so that we do not live just for ourselves, but rather, make sure we live for others. We are not meant to be individualists. We will never be holy if we ignore our neighbor. Anyone who suggests we can abandon the world, because we don’t like what is in... Read more
The Catholic Church is called the Catholic Church and not the Roman Catholic Church because it is far more extensive than what is found in Western Christianity. The reality of the Catholic Church is that its essence lies in its universality, its catholicity, and not just in the relationship people have with the Bishop (or Pope) of Rome. Because so many, including apologists, have centered their discussions on the papacy, the catholicity of the Church is often forgotten; in doing... Read more
When we have faith in someone or something, we place our trust in that person or thing. We can have faith, that is, trust in someone or something for many different reasons. Sometimes, our reasons can be good, demonstrating how faith and reason can work together and complement each other, but sometimes, our reasons can be unsound, but when they are faulty, that doesn’t necessarily mean our trust is misplaced. We can be right for the wrong reasons. Or, we... Read more
Climate change is real, and, unless we do something to fix it, the harm it is going to cause the world is also real. If we do not get our collective act together,  parts of the world, if not the whole world, will be uninhabitable in the future. Due, in part, to what we can see happening already, we can only imagine the kind of suffering climate change will bring to the future of humanity, before humanity finds itself going... Read more
We tend to consider all the great things Peter and Paul did, all the fantastic things recorded about their lives, and think, because of all they accomplished, they were quite different from us. They are portrayed as bold, strong, and powerful, capable of enduring all kinds of hardships which would make most of us crumble and fall apart. The thing is, this is only partially true. We know they all had their failings. We know they were not always doing... Read more
It’s common, indeed, normal, for siblings to fight each other. Regardless how intense those fights can be, most of them do not undermine the love siblings have for each other. Those fights are merely indicative of minor disagreements and disputes, for, it is clear, most siblings will do all they can do to help each other, if such help was necessary. They do not let their fights get in the way of their love for each other. Indeed, sometimes their... Read more
Hope and love are essential for Christians. They should serve as the foundation of every Christian life. For God is love and reveals that love to us in Jesus, and through Jesus we should have hope that God is at work for us, making sure we will attain the kingdom of God for ourselves. His death reveals to us the end of sin, as he took with him all that is sin and cast it into the abyss. In his... Read more
Many Catholics are finding themselves having a crisis of faith. Some valiantly hold on to what faith they still possesses, while others, for many different reasons, find it is too hard to do so, and give up, hoping to find peace elsewhere. Looking at what is going on within so many Catholic communities, it is not difficult to understand why many find themselves so conflicted in their faith that they come to conclude that the only solution is for them... Read more
Most religious traditions have texts, Scriptures, which they used to guide and direct their faithful, providing them at least a basic representation of their teachings. There are, of course, limits to what can be provided in such texts, and many, if not most, religious faiths recognize this as a basic fact. They point out the faithful need to do more than read and reflect upon scripture; the faithful need to actually engage them, to live out what is indicated in... Read more
Ascetic Christian spirituality is based upon the recognition that we are all in need of spiritual medicine. We are all sinners who have done various things which we are sorry that we have done, things which often influence us and cause us to act contrary to the way we wish we would act because. This is because, every time we act, our action will seed its influence in our will, often creating and forming habits which are difficult to overcome.... Read more
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