God’s grace is for everyone; everyone is called to drink from the spiritual well and have their thirst quenched. Christ wants to share the Holy Spirit, and all the gifts of the Spirit, with everyone; Jesus is the anointed one; we can and should be united with him, and through that unity, become anointed as well. Man, woman, Jew, Gentile, sinner, would-be saint, all can come to Christ and have their spiritual thirst quenched. All are called; we should not... Read more
Senator Rick Scott, and with him, many of his fellow Republicans, are taking their aim at the poor, the needy, the vulnerable. They want to find ways to make the poor pay more and more to society, even if the poor do not have the means, while making sure they receive less and less in return for what they give. Scott and his compatriots are doing this, it seems, so as to make sure that the rich and powerful do... Read more
People dealing with difficult situations often find themselves going to the same people, time and time, again, asking the same kinds of questions, and getting the same kinds of responses. They might fear they are wasting everyone’s time in doing so. But they are not. The more they hear the responses they need, the more they can be and are helped by them. Sometimes, we just need to hear things enough times to fully appreciate or understand what we are... Read more
While God has revealed various elements of the eschaton to us, and we can and do participate in it in part now because the eschaton has been immanentized, we must be careful and not claim to know more about it than we really do. We can, and will, develop theological opinions, using revelation as the foundation for our ideas. However, we must always be humble and recognize how limited we are in establishing our eschatological theories, accepting the fact that... Read more
Helping people deal with the wounds which makes them suffer, especially the wounds which paralyze them so much that they cannot get on with their lives, is very important. We must care about each other. We must take care of each other. We must do what we can to make sure no one needlessly suffers. Sadly, so many are paralyzed, not from physical wounds, but from social, psychological, and or spiritual wounds. People often find their lives restricted by society,... Read more
In the story of The Monkey’s Paw, as with many similar stories, the protagonist, Mr. White, finds that one must be careful for what they wish for, because wishes often are fulfilled through means which bring all kinds of terrible consequences with them. The wish might be for something good, but the good is corrupted by how the wish is fulfilled. Thus, when Mr. White is given a magical monkey’s paw, he is told the paw will grant him three... Read more
God is the source and foundation of every good. “Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (Jas. 1:17 RSV). Every created good, therefore, participates in and is united with the absolute good, the good which is found in God. This is because God, out of divine goodness, created the world and provided all that exists a way for them... Read more
God is merciful and kind; God loves us and does not want to put undue burdens and expectations on us. This is not to say sin is nothing to be concerned about, that we will not suffer some consequences for our sins. Obviously, we will. This is because sin creates its own suffering; it is the source and foundation for the pain and sorrow which follows, as it corrupts, harms, or destroys some of the good which comes in its... Read more
Christ established the church as the place where humanity could and should come together as one, reflecting the unity of the Trinity. The church, in its nature, exemplifies that unity. But the church subsists in a historical presence, a historical form, one which does not entirely demonstrate the harmony which Christ intended for it. Sadly, this means, throughout church history, Christians have been in conflict with each other, fighting instead of working together. While this likely will continue until the... Read more
On Good Friday, Pope Francis planned on having a Russian and a Ukrainian nurse, women who had become friends while in Rome, give a reflection that they wrote together at the 13th Station of the Cross. It was meant to be a contemplation which bemoaned the ravages of war: “Lord where are you? Speak to us amid the silence of death and division, and teach us to be peacemakers, brothers and sisters, and to rebuild what bombs tried to destroy.”[1]... Read more
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