God’s revelation always serves as a vessel for grace. We must open ourselves to that grace, the point of such revelation, and not become overly attached to the vessel of that grace. We must embrace the spirit of the revelation if we want to receive its fruit. When revelation comes to us in the form of some locution, and we receive a text from it, we must engage the spirit of the text, and not be overly concerned with the... Read more
It’s common for those criticizing social justice efforts to accuse those promoting social justice as being Marxists (either as socialists or as communists). Sometimes, various Marxists join in social justice causes, when the cause connects with a Marxist desire or objectives. But that doesn’t make social justice Marxist, for there are more than Marxists involved with social justice activities. Indeed, while they can work with Marxists for common goals, many involved in social justice activities nonetheless denounce Marxism as well,... Read more
St. John the Baptist had one mission: prepare the way for the coming of Christ. This is what his life was about. He did not know what to expect when Christ revealed himself to the world. Indeed, it was a great surprise to him when Jesus came and asked to be baptized. John humbly accepted his place in salvation history. He did not look for glory for himself. He did what he knew, and he did it well. He was... Read more
Having been baptized, and so put on Christ, we have been made free in Christ. We should not let ourselves become trapped by, and follow, useless ideologies, systematic determinisms, which limit us and prevent us from fully following Christ: See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fulness of deity... Read more
Liberation Theology was never condemned. Liberation Theology is not monolithic. Different Liberation Theologians tackle the questions raised by Liberation Theology, questions on the status of the poor and oppressed of the world, and offer different answers to those questions. Sometimes those answers are good. Sometimes those answers are bad. Some Liberation Theologians are good. Some Liberation Theologians are bad. It is the same as it has always been in history. Theology, theological styles, are diverse. Those following a particular style... Read more
The eucharist, which is in reality Christ offering himself to us as spiritual nourishment, comes to us physically as bread and wine. We hand over the bread and wine to God who then takes those gifts and transforms them, giving them back to us as our super-substantial bread, the bread of life. What we receive appears to be bread and wine. It has all the physical characteristics (accidents) of bread and wine. Our physical interaction with the eucharistic gifts will... Read more
God can and does work in mysterious ways; this is because God is so great, so marvelous, so transcendent to us, that we will never fully comprehend God or what God does. This is not because God acts without reason. God does not act sub-rationally. Rather, we must realize the limits of human reason and understanding. The greatness of God and God’s reasoning transcends what we are capable of understanding. We can apprehend what God deigns to reveal to us... Read more
Christ is born! Glorify Him! In the way God works with us, in the way God works with history, God does what is fitting. Therefore, the time of the incarnation, the time of the birth of Christ, was fitting. We might not know why it was fitting. Many have speculated as to why, such as those who suggested Christ was born at the “end of time,” to those who suggested that he might have been born at its middle, but... Read more
Due, in great part, to various bishops, priests, and laity suggesting Catholics (and others) must not take any of the available COVID19 vaccines, because they claimed it would be immoral to do so, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, following a long-standing tradition concerning the use of vaccines, issued a statement indicating that it is indeed morally acceptable to partake of a COVID19 vaccine. Likewise, the Congregation said that it is morally necessary for Catholics to do what... Read more
“So,” Peter tell us, we are to “put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander” (2Ptr. 2:1 RSV). For many of us, this can be rather difficult, not because we believe such things to be good, but because our passions often get the best of us and turn us away from the charity which we know we should follow. From time to time, anger rises up in us. Without thinking about what we are... Read more
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