The incarnation has revealed the truth of God to us in a human form, a human form with a human image. That image is God’s image, and through it, we learn that we can use images to represent the divine nature so long as we understand the way such representations work. We can embrace God through cataphatic theology, we can imagine God, using our theological conventions to point to the divine truth. This is because of the economic activity of... Read more
The COVID19 pandemic continues to threaten the world.  What can justly be done to stop it must be done for the sake of the common good.  Vaccine mandates can be, and indeed, have become an important tool in dealing with the pandemic. Some people, believing false information and lies which they have heard, have been led to believe that they must not take the vaccine, and so form a conscientious objection to doing so. Some, who do not like having... Read more
The Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers, some of the most inspirational figures of the monastic tradition, knew that they had to do more than study the faith and speak about it to others; they knew that had to put it into practice. They understood the way words could get in the way of such practice. They knew we could get caught up in the letter and not the spirit of the Christian faith. They wanted to receive, and many of... Read more
Grace purifies, illuminates, and perfect those who cooperate with it. Its transformative power is said to deify those who perfectly join with it so that they can be called gods. It is true, they will not be gods by nature, but they will become gods by grace as they participate in and experience the divine nature.  This is how and why Moses was said to have become like a god for Pharoah: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I... Read more
To study the teachings of the faith can be a good thing, but to live out those teachings is better. To memorize and know doctrine can be a good thing, but to judge others and browbeat them for not knowing obscure teachings of the faith is not. Doctrine is meant to show us the way to the fullness of the truth. We must not confuse our ability to argue with and debate others about doctrine as being sufficient to produce... Read more
Politics requires prudence, realizing what is and is not possible in a given context. Politicians have to make deals and temper their ideals in order to work for the common good. They must recognize the implications of their legislation, and if imposing a particular law would make things worse, even if it follows from a proper moral principle, they must reject that law and preserve the greater good. This is why St. Thomas Aquinas did not support legislation which  would... Read more
St. Antony the Great understood humility was vital for the Christian life, making it doubly important for those who would take on the religious life for themselves (that is, those who had a monastic profession). Asceticism is supposed to help us embrace self-denial, while pride, the opposite of humility, embraces the self and props it up. Even we do much which is good, even if we put into practice many particular virtues, they find themselves going astray if we do... Read more
One of St. Jerome’s sources for his theological writings, especially his commentaries on Scripture, was Origen. Despite the way Jerome, Theophilus of Alexandria, and others fought against Origenism, they could be found engaging Origen, such as when they were needing insight into difficult passages of Scripture. They understood Origen’s contributions to Christian theology was important and that they could and did learn from him. Their dispute was over various details of Origen’s thought and not all his principles or contributions... Read more
We are contingent beings. No matter how great we become in the world, all that greatness is also contingent. We need to remember this at all times so that we should not become trapped by the way things appear to be in a given moment. If we seem to be great, it is not our doing alone. All that we have, all that we have made of ourselves, could not be without others. Our contingency makes us dependent beings, and... Read more
The story of Noah’s Ark indicates God’s desire for humanity to take care of and preserve animal life, making sure not one species becomes extinct. Noah, acting on what God told him to do, made sure the flood did not become a mass extinction event. The story shows how Noah, in his actions, fulfilled the stewardship that humanity had been granted over creation. It is a responsibility which did not end with Noah but continues with us to this day... Read more
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