Seeking the answer to the question that is the title of this essay[1. I would like to thank Sr. Mary Ann Fatula, O.P., Professor Emerita at Ohio Dominican University, for her invaluable comments that helped to improve this essay. I would … [Read more...]
Teaching Theology to Gen Z
Three Lessons from Henri de Lubac
April 26, 2024 by Dr. Sara Hulse Kirby
Each fall, as I prepare to stand before a classroom of undergraduates, required as they are to take my Introduction to Catholic Theology course, I reconsider how to teach the faith most effectively. This task has become more challenging … [Read more...]
Contemplation and Beauty: Reclaiming Sensuality for the New Evangelization
October 27, 2023 by Michael Gray
“The aesthetic value of creation cannot be overlooked. Our very contact with nature has a deep restorative power; contemplation of its magnificence imparts peace and serenity. The Bible speaks again and again of the goodness and beauty of c … [Read more...]
Give the Young the World of Good Music
October 27, 2023 by Elizabeth Altham
“[W]hen modes of music change, the fundamental mores of the state always change with them.” – Plato, Republic, 400b and 424c A few years ago, as preparation for a course in European history, I assigned the students in our high school di Lam … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – October 2023
September 22, 2023 by Book Reviews
Aquinas on Scripture: A Primer. By John F. Boyle. Reviewed by D.M. Walker. (skip to review) Remembering Why We Preach: A Retreat to Renew Your Spirit and Skill. By Karla J. Bellinger and Michael E. Connors, CSC. Reviewed by Deacon … [Read more...]
“I am the Truth”: Brief Catholic Ponderings on Truth
August 28, 2023 by Eric Manuel Torres
In a well-known passage, Jesus proclaims, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6a) As with all the seven “I am” sayings recorded in John’s Gospel, Jesus here is making a claim regarding His divinity. Indeed, three individual c … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – June 2023
May 26, 2023 by Book Reviews
As a Priest Thinks, So He Is. Ed. by Beth Rath McGough and Patricia Pintado-Murphy. Reviewed by M. Ross Romero, S.J. (skip to review) Pray, Think, Act: Make Better Decisions with the Desert Fathers. By Augustine J. Wetta, O.S.B. Reviewed … [Read more...]
Hedging the Heart
Five Preconditions of an Authentic Human Formation
January 27, 2023 by Fr. John Nepil
Human formation — that pillar of seminary life often affirmed and rarely understood. Certainly, we believe it to be the basis of all priestly formation, and remain convinced by the words of St. John Paul II: “The priest should mold his huma … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – February 2023
January 27, 2023 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
God “Breaks Into” Time Question: Why do we say that God is breaking into human history when speaking of Jesus? What is God breaking into? The Heaven-Earth divide? Answer: This term, which comes to us from contemporary theology, is act … [Read more...]
“Not My Will But Yours Be Done”
Understanding the Agony in the Garden
March 26, 2022 by Tyler Pellegrin
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.” And to strengthen him an angel from heaven appeared to him. He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like dro … [Read more...]
Anger Reconsidered
January 27, 2022 by Julia Hejduk
Note: This essay first appeared on the Christ-Animated Learning Blog with Christian Scholar’s Review. The Prince of Peace said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mt 10:34). Amid the ubiquitous anger of present America, espec … [Read more...]
Conscience and the Service of Authority
Drawing Pastoral Insights from Joseph Ratzinger
January 27, 2022 by Fr. Niccolo Florencio
There is, at present, a crisis of authority within the Catholic Church, expressed no more clearly by the clamor for democratization outfitted by the various movements of protest which attempt to raze the “old guard” of bureaucratic est … [Read more...]
Transcendence After America Project
Restoring Jesus Christ to the Public Square
December 24, 2021 by Matthew Tsakanikas, STD
On the New Evangelization . . . . . . For her part, the Church in the United States is called, in season and out of season, to proclaim a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to … [Read more...]
A Bold Message of Love
Bishop Michael Burbidge’s Catechesis on the Human Person
September 24, 2021 by Deacon Gerard-Marie Anthony
In the month of the mighty messengers of God, the archangels, it is refreshing to hear a hope-filled message through Bishop Burbidge’s Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology.[1. Bishop Michael Burbidge, “A Catechesis on the Hum … [Read more...]
Teaching Racial Harmony from Theology of the Body
August 16, 2021 by Patrick Reilly
How should Catholic educators respond to the racial turmoil in recent years? Instead of adopting new materials and programs rooted in critical race theory,[1. Patrick Reilly, “Wrong Way to Teach About Race in Catholic Education,” Newman Soc … [Read more...]
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