Justice and Peace Through Integrity of Creation (Guest Post)

Last updated on: August 5, 2015 at 10:48 am By Tom Zampino

Ever since Pope Francis released Laudato si on May 24, 2015, we have heard a good deal of both criticism and praise. Most critics, it seems, have tended to focus attention on just one or two aspects of the whole, failing to recognize the inter-connectedness that Francis intentionally and artfully wove together. Laudato si’ is not so much an environmental manifesto as it is an entirely – and a consistently – Christian one. Frank Morris has been involved in the environmental, business, and Catholic communities for... Read more

Mother Teresa At The National Prayer Breakfast, 1994

Last updated on: August 4, 2015 at 7:21 am By Tom Zampino

We need, this day, to hear once again the words of Blessed Mother Teresa when she spoke before the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994. Watch the 34 minute video below, or read a transcript here. Hers are powerful words. You Did It To Me: It is not enough for us to say: “I love God,” but I also have to love my neighbor. St. John says that you are a liar if you say you love God and you don’t love... Read more

Men Without Chests

Last updated on: January 22, 2016 at 4:22 pm By Tom Zampino

Since my reversion, I have twice had the privilege of meeting with Father George W. Rutler, pastor, author, columnist, EWTN host, theologian, sharp social critic. The highly educated and wonderfully articulate Rutler, a Catholic convert, currently serves at St. Michael’s Church in New York City. His most recent column appears at Crisis Magazine and I must strongly recommend that you read it in its entirety. The Pity of Christ succinctly addresses the latest, most insidious American failing: our massively misdirected moral outrage... Read more

5 Comparisons: A Very Brief Political/Sociological Quiz

Last updated on: July 30, 2015 at 6:55 am By Tom Zampino

Here’s a little thought experiment in recognition of the United States Presidential election campaign, already in full swing. Which answer within each of the following five sets of pairs gets you the most charged up? So much so, perhaps, that you can barely speak. Now, there is no right answer when it comes to our feelings. But our feelings can and should cause us to delve a little more deeply into the issues. And into the facts behind those issues. So, listen... Read more

Genesis Is Not Science

Last updated on: July 29, 2015 at 11:46 am By Tom Zampino

The point has been made numerous times over, but it’s always good to circle back to it. The biblical story of creation was never meant to be a scientific explanation of how we got here. Rather, the author of Genesis uses rich symbolic and poetic language to define and circumscribe man’s relationship to the divine from the beginning of time. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states it thusly: 362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a... Read more

Did You Ever Fall In Love? Therein Lies Your Faith.

Last updated on: March 31, 2016 at 7:11 am By Tom Zampino

There are two types of men, those who are afraid to lose God, and those who are afraid that they might find Him – Blaise Pascal Faith is really all about love (and love, faith). Let’s think about that for a moment. And I don’t mean – at least not directly – that loving someone requires a leap of faith since we can never really know what the future will hold. Love surely encompasses that, true. But what I mean to say... Read more

As We Start The New Day: An Aquinas Contemplation

Last updated on: July 23, 2015 at 7:40 am By Tom Zampino

Are you starting a new job today? Perhaps an uncertain new business venture or a school project? Or maybe you’re just starting today with some trepidation, anxiety, or fear – whether real or imagined, whether defined or undefined. Perhaps Thomas Aquinas’ contemplation, his prayer before work or study, is a good way to move forward from here. I have found it so. My hope is that you may as well: Ineffable Creator Who, from the treasures of Your wisdom,... Read more

Bishop-Elect Barron Appointed By Pope Francis

Last updated on: July 21, 2015 at 12:07 pm By Tom Zampino

Surprising but exciting news this morning as Pope Francis has appointed Father Robert Barron, of Word on Fire ministries, to become an Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. Those of you who follow this blog closely know the impact that Word on Fire – and Father Barron personally – has had on my growth in the Church. I wish him well. He is in my prayers as he undertakes this new mission. Here is the Bishop-elect’s full statement: It was with enormous... Read more

Too Late Have I Loved You – St. Augustine

Last updated on: July 20, 2015 at 5:34 am By Tom Zampino

Recall now the piercing words of St. Augustine of Hippo as we set out on today’s new journey. But remain confident in the knowledge that it is He who first sought us. And that He is ever with us: Too late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient, O Beauty so new. Too late have I loved you! You were within me but I was outside myself, and there I sought you! In my weakness I ran after the beauty of... Read more

The President, The Prison Visit, and The Urgent Priority

Last updated on: July 17, 2015 at 5:45 pm By Tom Zampino

I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Matthew 25:36 It may not exactly have been a Matthew 25 moment, but it certainly brings to mind one of Christ’s required corporal works of mercy. And this one was undertaken not without some risk, psychological if not political. It was, after all, both an historic opportunity as well as a contemplative, if not a humbling, one: In becoming... Read more