In capitalistic societies, wealth is deemed as the ultimate good which we should seek to possess. Wealth clearly has been made into an idol, and people are willing to sacrifice many things to attain it (including the livelihood of other people). Is it any surprise, therefore, that Mammon is confused for God? Indeed, many who claim to be Christian, and are Christian through baptism, have turned their back on the true nature of God – a loving God whose heart... Read more
My school recently had another racist incident: two black students had racist slurs scrawled on their dorm room white boards. I say “another” because they have happened here with depressing regularity: a “pimps and hos” party two year ago, a student dressing in blackface for a Halloween party two years before that, and other incidents before that that have blurred together in my mind. The minority students tell those faculty willing to listen that this is just the tip of... Read more
Introduction and Part II God, by His Logos, created the different kinds of animals to meet the variety of our needs: some for our food, others for our service. And He created man to apprehend them and their actions and to appraise them gratefully. Man should therefore strive not to die, like the non-rational animals, without having attained some apprehension of God and His works. One must know that God is omnipotent; nothing can resist Him who is omnipotent. For... Read more
“Jesus died at the ninth hour (three o’clock in the afternoon). Those who handed on such precise information were Jewish Christians. They knew the importance of the ninth hour as the official hour of Israel’s prayer. Jesus accomplished his work at that hour by praying. Instead of resorting to the analogy of human justice that is so different from God’s, why doesn’t the theology of redemption let itself be guided by the analogy of prayer? The Epistle to the Hebrews... Read more
An explosive new essay by Matt Taibbi details the egregious wrongdoings of the major Wall Street banks, and how they never ever seem to face the consequences. We are not talking just about greed here, but actual crimes – cooking the books, insider trading, blatant lying, cheating investors. You name did, they did it, and on a huge scale. And it went unpunished. In fact, the political cloak of protection surrounding these bankers made them almost invincible. Any foolhardy junior investigator... Read more
Courtesy of Dr. Robert Reich, this is from a flyer being passed around in Wisconsin: It’s emerging from the heartland – from Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa — and it is spreading across the nation. It doesn’t have a formal organization or Washington lobbyists beyond it, but it’s gaining strength nonetheless. Like the Tea Party did with Republicans in 2010, the People’s Party will pressure Democrats in primaries and general elections leading up to 2012 and beyond to have... Read more
This is the title of a short and fascinating book written by Lew Daly as few years back as a criticism of the Bush administration’s faith-based initiative. Daly supports the faith-based initiative insofar as it allows a role for religious and other mediating institutions between the state and the person. This is consistent with subsidiarity and promotes the dignity of the individual. But Daly parts company with the American approach when it comes to actually paying for the welfare state. The American approach places a... Read more
I invite you all to offer up your daily rosary, or your other forms of prayer for the people of Japan. Right now there are fears the third nuclear reactor might melt down. Three nuclear reactors in crisis. Our Lady of Akita, pray for Japan. Read more
Introduction and Part II For the next several paragraphs, we have typical passages dealing with ascetic themes, the most interesting ones dealing with our confrontation with demons, immortality and theosis (deification).[1] For the casual reader, it might seem that this is getting repetitive. However, we must remember that this text was written with ascetics in mind. Looking at the same theme, from a variety of angles, not only helps them to remember what is being discussed, but to see its... Read more
I recently had the privilege of having Dr. Matthew Levering, of the University of Dayton, stop by my doctoral carrel in the basement of Regis College. He was in town to do a presentation at Wycliffe College, one of our partner schools at the Toronto School of Theology. Dr. Levering is friends with one of my professors, Father Gilles Mongeau, S.J., who thought that, given our common interests, particularly ecumenism with evangelicals, we would like to meet. I boldly gave... Read more
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