Maintaining the integrity of words isn’t my phrase. But that of Bishop Erik Varden and expresses a belief that is dear to my heart. Why do I think it so dear that it warrants 800 words? There are a number of reasons: even as a kid, I loved words. The process of learning to use […]
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The shame and blame game: the anatomy of sin Some books are worth reading over and over again. Karol Wojtyla’s–Pope John Paul ll’s– A Sign of Contradiction is one of those unique texts. Recently, I read A Sign of Contradiction for the third or maybe the fifth time. The book compiles Wojtyla’s meditations for the
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Stir into flame Saint Paul’s Letter to Timothy from last week’s Christian liturgy feels directed to each of the 8.1 billion living souls in this June of 2024. Although there’s controversy about authorship and dates of these letters, orthodox concensus declares it as Paul’s last letter. He writes to his successor in Ephesus, from prison.
Salvador Dali 1958 Ascension of Jesus- courtesy phillip chiripop Where did Jesus go: Come Holy Spirit! I became a new creation that Thursday evening in early September at Saint Benedict’s Abbey. The journey had been arduous and long, but I’d finally found home. After receiving the sacraments necessary for full communion in the Catholic Church,
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Death, Hope, Heaven, What are we here for, anyway? In my pre-Catholic ‘pagan’ years, I worried about death. Mostly because I feared standing before a God I did not think I believed in and explaining why I had wasted knowledge, understanding, and time. After twenty years as a Catholic, I would like to think that
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How do they do it? “You have two children, don’t you?” The casual question prompted an unnerving reply. “Yes, I had a son who died at thirty-seven and a daughter who died at forty-one.” Homilist, Pastor Eric Ritter at Tuesday’s six AM Saint Matthew’s Church question, “How do they do it?” was implicit. “How do
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Therapy: bad, good or none? Abigail Schrier’s new book, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up, peels back the multlayered onion of America’s obsession with health. In this case, that of our kids. The author notes at the beginning of the book that there are kids, a small percentage, with real psychiatric problems. But
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Momento mori: sure there’s time? Time…it’s like light, air and water. We have plenty, until…we don’t. The April 8 solar eclipse that brought thousands to Texas, for just a nanosecond, revealed a darkness unlike any other. That total absence of light, reminded me of evil, also a negative: absence of goodness, of God. All of
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The Real Spiritual Battle We’re approaching Holy Week, the days of silence, reflection and accounting we’re given by the Christian liturgy each year to reply to some questions and thoughts: The real spiritual battle is forgiveness, not of others, but of ourselves. Because always, an honest examination of ourselves reveals flaws, failures and weakness–sin. Annually
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Cabrini, the movie and radical goodness. Saint Francesca Cabrini was a force of nature. The actress portraying the first American saint, Francesca Dell ‘Anna makes Cabrini, the movie, a tour de force. Rarely does a film make use of all of its potential. In this one, however, the acting, screenplay and cinematography in Cabrini achieve
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