After the Angelus on December 10th, Pope Francis spoke on the Seventy-Fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which, at the time of its creation, promoted a new way of engaging the world, one in which human dignity and the rights which is accorded with it should be promoted and defended. Religious liberty, freedom of speech, freedom from fear, and freedom from undue want, are basic rights which should be granted to everyone. In the last seventy-five years,... Read more
We must not confuse what we have apprehended of the truth and turned into some sort of fact, even dogmatic fact, as being the same thing as the truth in itself. It is, at best, a conventional expression of the truth. We can designate it as a conventional, or relative, truth so long as its conventional status is kept in mind and that the absolute truth itself is understood as being something other than our apprehension. When someone equivocates between... Read more
We often wish the challenges we face on a daily basis would go away. We think that would make our lives peaceful, and with such peace, we would find it easy to have fulfilling lives. The problem is that if we found ourselves having such peace, we would find ourselves attached to that peace we would feel as if we had little to no reason to push ourselves to grow, and to become someone even better. Despite how much we... Read more
Jesus, the incarnate God-man, unites creation with God, making him the mediator between God and humanity, God and creation. In him the two are one and yet always two. He is God and man, creator and creature. Those distinct natures are preserved instead of becoming blended together and becoming a new, third nature. In his humanity, he shares with the rest of creation a created nature, allowing them to be one, even as they find themselves to be personally distinct,... Read more
While the theological truths of the Catholic Church are expressed in and through words, they must not be confused with the words themselves. Even the best, most carefully chosen words can be misinterpreted, leading people to believe or accept erroneous teachings. Similarly, other words, which sometimes have had unorthodox interpretations associated with them, can later be employed by the church when it finds an orthodox way of engaging them. This was something the Fathers of Nicea came to recognize when... Read more
What made St. Nicholas so beloved, and well-known around the world, is that he was a bishop who did what his conscience told him to do. His conscience was formed upon the message of Jesus who told his followers to take care of those in need. While the legends concerning his life were quite late in being written down, the most famous ones were likely based upon oral tradition and so have a kernel of historical truth associated with them.... Read more
War is hell. While it might sometimes be unavoidable, it should never be glorified. It is always an evil, and as such, even when it becomes necessary, it tends to corrupt those who are involved in it. Extra care should be had by those who are forced to defend themselves against an unjust aggressor that they do not become like those they oppose. From their own experiences, veterans know firsthand the horrors of war; many of them end up trying... Read more
Our conflict should not be with each other, but with sin, and the way sin creates structures over society which controls and dominates it. We must seek to overturn the structures of sin, but especially in regards the way they cause innocents to needlessly suffer. We must stand up for those who are being oppressed, those who in Scripture are represented by widows, orphans, and foreigners. If we see antisemitism on the rise, we must fight against it and help... Read more
Gossip should be avoided. It often causes us to speak about things which should not be spoken, hurting the reputation of innocents through misinformation and innuendo. That is, gossip tends towards slander. Gossip is not based upon verifiable facts, though what is spread by it is treated as if it were. The more we engage it and share what we have heard to others, the more various rumors will be taken as facts, and as a result, many innocents will... Read more
So many people have distorted the message of Jesus that they think salvation is about knowing the right facts and that those who don’t know them will be damned for eternity. Many atheists have picked up on this presentation of the Christian faith and have rightfully challenged it, saying if true, God would be unjust. Christ did not teach such an ideological approach to salvation. Indeed, he constantly confronted it. He pointed out how many of those who thought they... Read more
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