We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb,... Read more
Today, Christians all over the world are celebrating Holy Thursday, the Thursday of the Last Supper. This is the night when Christ celebrated the Passover with His disciples; then He went out into the garden to pray. He was so terrified of what was to come that His sweat became like drops of blood. He prayed that the Father would let the cup pass from Him– but only if it was the Father’s will. And then Judas arrived with the... Read more
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world. There were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary who was the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and look after him when he was in Galilee. And there were many other women there who had come up to Jerusalem with him. It was now evening, and... Read more
I never thought I’d live to see Holocaust denial in a White House press briefing. I’m trying to give Press Secretary Sean Spicer as much of the benefit of the doubt that I can muster, but there’s no way to spin his statement that isn’t horrifying. “We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War II. You know, you had a, you know, someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” said Spicer, with his usual elegant... Read more
The Catholic Apologists are at war again. I know, it’s Palm Sunday, I really ought to be posting one of my signature flowery meditations, but I’ve written almost an entire book on the Way of the Cross in the past thirty-two days or so, two meditations a week, and I’m meditated out. I’ll be back in the saddle by Holy Thursday and round out the season with some lovely ones, I promise. But right now, I’m feeling snarky. I’m witnessing an apologist... Read more
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world. The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription... Read more
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati released a statement yesterday, asking the faithful to contact Governor Kasich regarding the pending deportation of Maribel Trujilo, a Fairfield, Ohio resident with no criminal record. Trujilo fled Mexico in 2002 after her family was targeted by drug cartels. Immigration officials had previously deemed her no threat to public safety and granted her prosecutorial discretion. She has a pending asylum case and has been faithfully reporting to ICE as they instructed her. Yesterday, Trujilo was arrested... Read more
Mark my words: this is not about the babies. It ought to be. It ought to be all about the babies. However we intervene in Syria, our motivation from the very beginning ought to be saving precious babies like Aya and Ahmed, the twins who were murdered in the recent Syrian chemical attack. But that is not the president’s motivation. And it is obvious that this is not his motivation. The president has claimed that “When you kill innocent children —... Read more
I have just now seen the news that the United States just attacked a Syrian air base with 50 or 60 Tomahawk missiles, in retaliation for the recent sarin gas attack against civilians. This is the first US air strike against the Syrian president (rather than ISIS) in the six years of Syria’s civil war. The AP is reporting that Donald Trump said that this is in the “vital national security interest” of the United States. Please join Steel Magnificat as... Read more
(Note: this piece was originally composed in response to Rebecca Bratten Weiss’s recent post where she wrote about how the evils of the world can often accompany the members into the life of lay intentional communities. Father Stephanos writes about the same phenomenon as a feature of the Benedictine monastic tradition.–Michael) Here in the monastery we must work hard to screen out applicants who may have motivations or qualities that are unhealthy, mistaken, or unvirtuous. We don’t always succeed at that. During... Read more
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