Archives for 2017

The Rich Man and Lazarus: a Modern and Patristic Reflection

Lazarus at the Rich Man's Door by James Tissot In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the parable begins with a description of the rich man and his life of luxury and excess. He is portrayed as a member of the elite, … [Read more...]

The Work of a Master Carpenter

I just finished watching, for a third time, the movie: The Passion of the Christ. After this latest viewing, I was deeply moved by the particular scenes involving Christ and the cross: the wooden beams he was made to carry; the wooden beams … [Read more...]

The Plain Duty of Fasting

Is not the neglect of this plain duty (I mean fasting, ranked by our Lord with almsgiving and prayer) one general occasion of deadness among Christians? Can anyone willingly neglect it and be guiltless?[1. John Wesley, The Journal of John … [Read more...]

Homilies for March 2017

Ash Wednesday—March 1, 2017 Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/030117.cfm JL 2:12-18; PS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 12-13, 14 and 17; 2 COR 5:20—6:2; MT 6:1-6, 16-18 “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin….” I used t … [Read more...]

Bl. Columba Marmion on Living in Christ

Fr. Aidan Nichols in his book, Christendom Awake, rightly points out that we have lost the cultural foundation of the spiritual life. In the modern world, God is perceived as absent and there is an intense focus on the individual. … [Read more...]

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Cor 13:11). It is a very good thing to learn one’s faith at a young age. And it is a very good thing … [Read more...]

To Repair the Face of the World

We visibly see the repairing process on a material, natural, and physical level. If a car or house has been damaged following an accident, then we see the repair work undertaken with the aim of restoring the material object to its original … [Read more...]

Racketeer for Life

Book Review Essay

Fighting the Culture of Death from the Sidewalk to the Supreme Court by Joseph M. Scheidler with Peter M. Scheidler (Charlotte, NC: Tan Books/St. Benedict Press, 2016; ISBN 978-1-61890-850-6, $24.95) 455 pages. Maybe once in a lifetime, … [Read more...]

Does Science Eliminate God?

NASA photo of outer space; Michelangelo's "Creation" art from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel There is a widespread belief that science has utterly destroyed any rational argument for the existence of God. Richard Dawkins in The God … [Read more...]

Late Winter Reading

Hope for the World: To Unite All Things in Christ. By Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke and Guillaume D'alançon; paperback; published July 20, 2016. Reviewed by Fr. Ryan Rojo. Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth by M … [Read more...]

COMIC: I’m With Her

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Homilies for February 2017

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time—February 5, 2017 Readings: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020517.cfm IS 58:7-10;PS 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9;1 COR 2:1-5; MT 5:13-16. Living as Salt and Light Light. Where would we be without it? In the dark. We … [Read more...]

Father John Navone, S.J.

His obituary plus two of his articles.

Fr. John "Jack" Navone, S.J., died on Christmas Day 2016. He was one of our regular contributors, and will be missed by all of us at HPR, and those who faithfully followed his thoughtful essays. May he rest in peace! We are including two … [Read more...]

The New Pagans and the Church

A 1958 Lecture by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Translated by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J.

According to religious statistics, old Europe is still a part of the earth that is almost completely Christian. But there is hardly another case in which everyone knows as well as they do here that the statistic is false: This so-called … [Read more...]

The Theological Virtue of Faith: Assent and Certitude

Of the seven fundamental virtues,[1. Faith, Hope, Charity (Theological) and Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance (Cardinal)] Faith, Hope, and Charity are the Theological virtues because they orient us to God; Prudence, Courage, Justice, … [Read more...]