“There are two classes of men who are deficient in awe and fear, and, lamentable to say, taken together, they go far to make up the religious portion of the community. This is lamentable indeed, if so it is: it is not wonderful that sinners should live without the fear of God; but what shall we say of an age or country, in which even the more serious classes, those who live on principle, and claim to have a judgment in religious matters…”
Read MoreThough Moses was not permitted to enter the land of promise, he was vouchsafed a sight of it from a distance. We too, though as yet we are not admitted to heavenly glory, yet are given to see much, in preparation for seeing more. Christ dwells among us in His Church really though invisibly, and through its Ordinances fulfils towards us, in a true and sufficient sense, the promise of the text. We are even now permitted to “see the King in His beauty,” to “behold the land that is very far off.” The words of the Prophet relate…
Read MoreHi. Welcome to the future. I bet you, like me, did not expect to arrive here so soon… I mean where we can see the world to be ever more clearly headed in the direction that it is (though, having studied historical patterns as a professional anthropologist, I had my suspicions). Well, bypassing the pleasantries of commenting on the current situation and our concerns for the not so distant future, let’s just get down to business – It is a known fact (though we often overlook it) that the one thing that can really make a difference in your life in a world gone awry – is you.
Read MoreObedience is thus for St. Benedict—and thus for anyone opting to follow his path—not only a private matter nor even a merely vertical matter, but rather a multi-directional thing. In other words, obedience is to be given not only to God, not only to his authoritative representative the abbot (or whatever title a leader in a Christian community might hold), but also between the community members themselves as among equals. It is thus not only a matter of personal sanctification, but also a vital dimension of…
Read MoreThis indeed is the most momentous reason for religious worship, as far as we have grounds for considering it a true one. Men sometimes ask, Why need they profess religion? Why need they go to church? Why need they observe certain rites and ceremonies? Why need they watch, pray, fast, and meditate? Why is it not enough to be just, honest, sober, benevolent, and otherwise virtuous? Is not this the true and…[read more]
Read More"Year after year, as it passes, brings us the same warnings again and again, and none perhaps more impressive than those with which it comes to us at this season. The very frost and cold, rain and gloom, which now befall us, forebode the last dreary days of the world, and in religious hearts raise the thought of them. The year is worn out: spring, summer, autumn, each in turn, have brought their gifts and done their utmost; but they are over, and the end is come. All is past and gone, all has failed, all has sated; we are tired of the past; we would not have the seasons longer; and the austere weather which succeeds, though ungrateful to the body, is in tone with our feelings, and acceptable. Such is the frame of mind which befits the end of the year; and such the frame of mind which comes alike on good and bad at the end of life. The days have come in which..."
Read MoreThe Individual Alone is Not Enough – But this is not only about strengthening the individual Christian alone or about the need to rethink how we approach leadership and the crises we are facing, but the simple fact that Christianity is by nature communitarian and ecclesial, not individualistic. The “Lone Ranger spiritual gunslinger for Jesus” fantasy is an ideal of mod…(read on)
Read MoreReal, tangible, lived community is the life-source of a people—and of individual persons. MacIntyre points out that, by our very nature as human beings, you are able to know what you should do only if you…
Read MoreSuch then, is our predicament. The individual Christian cannot survive as an individual, especially in conditions such as we face today. Each person needs community or they will perish spiritually. Many—maybe you experience this firsthand yourself—are already going through life in the continual agony of…
Read MoreThe scandals that have rocked the Church over the last 30 years, the crises of faith and faithfulness, the failures of leadership across all segments of the Christian people both ecclesiastical and lay, point us to the urgent necessity of renewal – renewal in the way we think about Christian leadership, the way we live as Christians, and the way we form…
Read MoreDid you know John Henry Newman also wrote songs? Here's "The Watchman" (which he wrote at age 31), from the co...
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