“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). St. Paul tells us that faith in Christ makes us free. In the contemporary world there is a universal demand for more freedom—personal, political and economic. Freedom, however, is a slogan wor … [Read more...]
Heaven is not an abstraction
The realism or concreteness of Catholicism is startling to minds conditioned only by abstractions or by materialism alone.
June 1, 2009 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
“Today’s feast (Assumption) impels us to lift our gaze to Heaven; not the heaven consisting of abstract ideas or even an imaginary heaven created by art, but the Heaven of true reality which is God himself.” —Benedict XVI, Homily, Feast of … [Read more...]
Every agent acts for an end
Editorial, June 2009
June 1, 2009 by Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ
It is a basic principle of reality that every agent acts for an end. Every moving thing is going somewhere—for example, every car on a busy highway is going to some destination. Sunday drivers are on the road to enjoy the s … [Read more...]
What Civilization Owes to the Church
HOW THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BUILT WESTERN CIVILIZATION. By Dr. Thomas Woods, Jr. (Regnery Publishing, Inc., One Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001), 256 pp., HB $29.95.
April 9, 2009 by Book Reviews
If modern studies credit the Catholic Church with anything positive, it is usually limited to faint praise in the realm of music and the arts. Dr. Thomas Woods, however, offers an alternative view in his unambiguously titled best-seller, … [Read more...]
A Genuine “Return to Thomas”
BY KNOWLEDGE AND BY LOVE. By Michael S. Sherwin, O.P. (The Catholic University of America Press, P.O. Box 50370, Baltimore, Md. 21211, 2005), xxiii + 270 pp. HB $54.95.
April 9, 2009 by Book Reviews
There are two problems that have beset Thomistic philosophy and theology in the decades following the close of the Second Vatican Council, and it is difficult to decide which is the graver of the two. The first, and more general, is the … [Read more...]
A Theology of Friendship
Aelred of Rievaulx: Pursuing Perfect Happiness. By John R. Sommerfeldt (Paulist Press, 997 Macarthur Blvd., Mahwah, N.J. 07430), 184 pp. PB 23.95.
April 9, 2009 by Book Reviews
Aelred of Rievaulx was an English Cistercian monk who served first as the Abbot of Revensby in Lincolnshire from 1143 to 1147 and then as the Abbot of Rievalux in North Yorkshire from 1147 till his death in 1167. The author of many … [Read more...]
Rehabilitation of Garrigou-Lagrange
THE SACRED MONSTER OF THOMISM. An Introduction of the Life and Legacy of Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. By Richard Peddicord, O.P. (St. Augustine’s Press. P.O. Box 2285, South Bend, Indiana 46680-2285, 2005), 250 pp. PB $25 clothbound.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
There have been few figures in the theological climate of the last fiftyyears who have been as controversial as Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. Fr. Lagrange taught generations of future priests who studied in Rome, including Pope John Paul II … [Read more...]
Theologically Informed Movie
THE THEOLOGY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, by Monica Migliorino Miller. New York: Alba House2187 Victory Blvd., Staten Island NY 10314, 2005. 170 pages, $14.95.
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
The film The Passion of the Christ has been lauded as the most theologically informed movie about Christ ever made. Unlike many other films drawn from the Gospels, it utilizes images, gestures and actions, which serve as commentary on the … [Read more...]
Mariology as “Theological Synthesis”
The Mystery of Mary. By Paul Haffner (England: Gracewing, 2 Southern Ave, Leominster, Herefordshire, England, HR6 0QF, 2004), 285pp. PB £14.99 (English pounds).
April 1, 2009 by Book Reviews
Written in commemoration of the 150 th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854-2004), Fr. Paul Haffner, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, has authored a comprehensive work in … [Read more...]
The Meaning of Dogma
Catholicism has always taken dogmatic statements seriously because it realizes that the failure to state the truth properly often leads to error.
March 25, 2009 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
“If the average man is going to be interested in Christ at all, it is the dogma that will provide the interest. The trouble is that, in nine cases out of ten, he has never been offered the dogma.” — Dorothy Sayers, “Creed or Chaos?” [1. Dor … [Read more...]
Is Christianity a Comfortable Religion?
Right thinking about the Incarnation seems to be the single most important issue behind our contemporary turmoil.
March 25, 2009 by Fr. James V. Schall, SJ
“Make sure that no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some second-hand philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ.” —Colossians, 2, 8. “Jesus’ mission concerns all humanity. Therefore, the Church is … [Read more...]
True freedom is interior
Editorial, February 2009
February 1, 2009 by Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ
Freedom is what makes man to be man. Freedom is what distinguishes man from the rest of visible reality—sun, moon, stars, elements, plants and animals. On the natural level, freedom is man’s greatest gift or quality. What is freedom? Fre … [Read more...]
Reading Genesis with Cardinal Ratzinger
The author answers Catholic creationists by arguing that contemporary exegetes have sufficient reason to go beyond a literalist reading of Genesis.
January 1, 2009 by Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, OP
How is a Catholic supposed to read the first chapter of Genesis that details the six days of creation? In a lecture entitled, “Restoration of Traditional Catholic Theology on Origins,” given at the First International Catholic Symposium on C … [Read more...]
Our Passover Eucharist
On Good Friday Jesus offered on the Cross the one sacrifice which is the root of every ritual and of all Christian religion.
August 1, 2007 by Dr. Jeremy Holmes
Our Lord did not give his Eucharist to the disciples in a lonely place one day during their Galilean wanderings, as he delivered many of his other teachings. He did not speak about it in the Temple court, or in his sermon on the mount. He … [Read more...]
Genesis 1: A Cosmogenesis?
“Nihil pulchrius Genesi, nihil utilius.” Nothing more beautiful than Genesis, nothing more useful.
August 1, 1993 by Rev. Stanley L. Jaki, OSB
Genesis 1 is the most newsworthy chapter in the Bible. There can never be more fundamental news than that all depends on God because he made all, indeed the all, or the universe. This news did not come from any of the sages of ancient … [Read more...]
Recent Comments