Liturgy is fleshy, concrete, material; it is the prayer of smoking resin, sloughing wax, swirling wine and water; it is the remembrance of God made man gutted on a Cross; it is the celebration of a grilled Lawrence, a gouged-eye Lucy, a Fr. … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – December 2023
November 24, 2023 by Book Reviews
Politics After Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World. By David VanDrunen. Reviewed by M. Ciftci. (skip to review) Pondering the Permanent Things: Reflections on Faith, Art, and Culture. By Thomas Howard. Reviewed by S.E. … [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...]
A Christmas Reflection
December 22, 2022 by Alissa Thorell
Praying with the liturgical calendar can bear much fruit. Taking the time to ponder the purposes and mysteries behind the historical events of the Nativity and all that followed gives us a chance to consider anew how our own lives are … [Read more...]
Judaism Ancient and New
November 25, 2022 by Mark Drogin
Remnant of Israel At the present time, “there is a Remnant chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5). Isaiah cries out concerning Israel (Romans 9:27), “If the number is as the sand of the sea, a remnant will repent and return and be saved” (my tra … [Read more...]
Reflections on Three Saving Mysteries of the Christmas Season
November 24, 2021 by Jeffrey Tranzillo
“I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’” (Ps 2:7). The psalmist is referring here to Israel’s anointed, or messianic, king. As God’s anointed one, he is God’s “son,” God’s earthly re … [Read more...]
On Humility, or, Christianity as Bull-dung
November 24, 2021 by Julia Hejduk
Note: This essay first appeared on the Christ-Animated Learning Blog with Christian Scholar’s Review. In a post engagingly entitled “Academic Freedom: From Ram-skit to Bull-dung,”[1. Crystal Downing, “Academic Freedom: From Ram-skit to Bu … [Read more...]
Book Reviews – December 2021
November 24, 2021 by Book Reviews
Christmas Around the Fire. By Ryan N.S. Topping. Reviewed by Mark McCann. (skip to review) Meet the Gentle Jesus: First Communion Preparation Program. By Liguori Publications. Reviewed by Mark McCann. (skip to review) The Healing … [Read more...]
Questions Answered – August 2021
August 16, 2021 by Fr. Brian Mullady, OP
The Knowledge of the Incarnate God Question: If Jesus is both human and divine, why didn’t he know everything God would know from the moment of birth or soon after? How could Jesus not know the second coming if God the Father knew and they … [Read more...]
The Final Battle: Marriage and Family
July 29, 2021 by Mark Drogin
One: Mary-with-Joseph is the Terror of Demons In 1917, in the month of May, when special devotions to Mary are observed, our Blessed Mother appeared to three small children in Fatima, Portugal. She spoke to them and promised she would … [Read more...]
God Is Not Ineffective Against Evil
June 30, 2021 by Eric Manuel Torres
The problem of evil is a profound enigma. Even for people who believe in God, the presence of evil can be overwhelming. Many ask, “How could God be so silent or inactive?” A look at history reveals countless evils, including wars and gen … [Read more...]
Pentecostal Suffering and Our Growth in Holiness
June 3, 2021 by Fr. Kenneth G. Davis, OFM Conv.
The seasons of Lent and Easter help us understand the priesthood if we begin at the end. Easter season ends with Pentecost, so that’s where we’ll begin. Recall the story of Pentecost: Everyone from various countries all understood the same l … [Read more...]
An Annunciation Homily
February 25, 2021 by Fr. Peter Stravinskas
On this solemnity which celebrates the high-water point in the history of salvation, permit me to explore with you three Latin expressions. 1. Verbum caro factum est [The Word became flesh]. We find this line, of course, in the Prologue … [Read more...]
Christ, the Sublime High Priest
Old and New Covenant Continuity and Fulfillment in Priesthood and Liturgy in Aquinas’s Commentary on Hebrews
January 14, 2021 by Marcus Benedict Peter
Aquinas’s Commentary on Hebrews exquisitely treats of the relationship between the salvific works of Old Covenant sacrifices and their fulfillment in the person of Christ as supreme High Priest of the New Covenant. Contrary to the position o … [Read more...]
Hail Full of Grace, the Lord Is With You
December 23, 2020 by Rev. Kenneth M. Dos Santos, MIC
Whom does the Archangel Gabriel address when he speaks the words: “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you”? Is it not a humble Virgin named Mary, born to Saints Joachim and Anne in the city of Galilee named Nazareth? She who is known as … [Read more...]
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