Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on patriotism and arguing well…
“Last month I wrote about practicing the virtue of gratitude to foster fraternity. This got me thinking about the July Fourth holiday, which by the time you read this will have already passed, and about fraternity and the virtue of patriotism.” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
King Leonidas of Sparta
Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist June 24, 2018
Recently I was revisiting the story of the battle at Thermopylae, where, as the Greek Historian Herodotus tells us, 300 Spartans (and several other Greeks) held off a huge Persian army for far longer than they should have been able to.
The story is told today, as it was at the time of Herodotus, as a story about the incredible resilience of the patriot who, for love of country and family and freedom is capable of great sacrifice. The story is also very much about the Spartans, who were a warrior people. They trained their boys from a very young age to be nothing else but soldiers. Their society was entirely dedicated to warfare, yes, but in their eyes it was more than just that. It was a society dedicated to the perfection of the human will over the weakness of human flesh. The saying in Greece was that Athens and Thebes built statues; Sparta built men.
As I considered the story of the Spartans and their valor at Thermopylae, I found myself in a kind of awe for their people. However, I could not ignore the fact that these were a brutal people. They were not a Christian people. They did not know the true God. And if they had, they would certainly have rejected him as the Athenians did when St. Paul came and spoke to them.
I bring this up because Read More
Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on the importance of gratitude…
“Last month I wrote about the ways that envy can drive us apart. Our materialistic culture, which places so much value on things over people, makes it very difficult for us to love properly. To keep ourselves from succumbing to envy, the church’s social teaching suggests fostering gratitude..” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Homily for the Seventh Sunday of Easter May 13, 2018
Today’s readings are a kind of prelude to next week’s celebration of Pentecost. In the first reading, Matthias replaces Judas Iscariot maintaining apostolic succession and magisterial authority.
The second reading demonstrates the need for this authority because, as St. John tells us, right doctrine, being able to acknowledge that the Man of Nazareth was and is the Son of God, that central doctrinal note is a sign of living in the Spirit and in the love of God. Read More
Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on the dangers of wealth…
“When thinking about all the various ways that unity is undermined in our society, I have written about some ideological obstacles. They affect the way we view reality and how we think through solving problems in society. I’d like to address a practical obstacle that leads to an ideological one, namely our incredible wealth.” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
On Easter Sunday this year I posted the following note on Facebook : “So my first Triduum as a deacon and all I can say is that Easter this year has been a totally different experience. I have been overwhelmed with such a level of gratitude for my family, my parish, my pastor, my faith, my Lord. A blessed Easter to all. He is risen!” The response to the post took me aback. Hundreds of people, some of whom I have not heard from for a while, reacted to the post and some even commented. One deacon, ordained only a couple years, responded affirmatively that it was totally different for him as well. And two friends asked me to extrapolate What happened? How was it different? Here is my attempt to explain.
I feel obliged to note a couple things for readers who are not exactly my close or even casual friends. First, my background is in theology. I have been working for the Church for 17 years now. When I talk about my family, I’m referring to my wife and our four kids. I was ordained on May 6, 2017.
I also feel obliged to say that I was rather happy as a layman. I was not “looking for more.” I love the Triduum. It has always been my favorite time of the liturgical year. It’s just that, this time, my perspective was different. Or rather, since we believe an ordained man is different in a fundamental way, I should say I was different fundamentally. My involvement in the liturgy was different and so physically I was looking at the movements of the event differently too. Read More
Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on the folly of identity politics…
“Last month I wrote about how Christianity calls us to love the oppressed and the oppressor. It is this second part that we often forget. Indeed, when we talk about the church going out into the peripheries, we almost exclusively think of the areas of our culture and society occupied by the oppressed. ” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on the folly of identity politics…
“Over the last several months, I have been writing about some of the seeds of discord that exist in our culture. …This month, I want to address identity politics. Allow me to start by sharing a personal anecdote. ” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on the media and the importance of the truth…
“I’ve been writing about some of the obstacles we face in our nation, specifically obstacles to unity. I would be remiss, then, if I didn’t spend some time focusing on our national media.” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on virtue and politics…
“When I wrote last month about the purpose of politics, that politics provides a forum for the practice of virtue, I was reminded of a scene from the film ‘Gladiator.’ In the scene the upstart Commodus rejects the four chief virtues his father seeks in an heir: wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. Rather, he lists the virtues with which he has been gifted: ambition, resourcefulness, courage (not on the battlefield), devotion.I thought of this scene because one of the difficulties we face in our culture is our skewed understanding of virtue. ” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Here is my latest column in The Catholic Voice on the possibility of a good politics…
“Last month I wrote about a tendency to judge others according to their political choices. This can have negative effects on holiday gatherings. Friendships and family relationships can fray when political choices become the measure by which we decide whether our neighbor is worthy of our love. This is a result in part of a skewed vision of politics.” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Here’s my article at the National Catholic Register on Fr. James Martin and the question of the sensus fidei.
“The Catholic Church’s teaching on the sensus fidei (sense of the faith) has been given attention recently, due to appeals to the concept by Jesuit Father James Martin, author of Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter Into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion and Sensitivity..”…
Here is my column in The Catholic Voice on the current state of affairs on politics…
“It’s been a year since the election and much of the acrimony still seems to linger. I was listening recently to a cultural commentator and convert to Christianity who was asked why he is so consistently joyful despite all the bad news. The trick, he said, is that he understands what politics is for.” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Here is my column in The Catholic Voice on World Mission Sunday.
“Later this month will be the collection for World Mission Sunday, a collection held all over the country for the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith. In our local diocese I am the director, and I’d like to write a bit about this collection and global solidarity.” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
Here is my column in The Catholic Voice on the good work of Fr. Lawrence in Nigeria.
“As students return to school, I’m always reminded of the good work of the many Catholic saints who modeled for us the educational system from which we all benefit today: St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle, St. Joseph Calasanz and St. Lucy Filippini. Driven by their love of the Lord, they were called to bring hope and opportunity to the poor.” ….
Charity in Truth in “The Catholic Voice”
