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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Thinking about the Rule of Benedict and the Baptism of the Lord. The Prologue of the Rule of Benedict contains some of the most lryical, lush and arresting prose ever written. These words from the 5th century summon, urge and admonish with utmost delicacy. L I S T E N carefully, my child,to your master’s
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Christmas Wake-Up Call: Stoning, Massacre and a Trump PS on Becket Wake-up call? Why do we need a Christmas wake-up call? Consider that for much of the world, Christmas starts right after Thanksgiving. Christmas music plays everywhere, shopping ads begin and the Christmas trees go up. Weeks later, when Christmas Day finally dawns, the excitement’s
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Why reason is required for faith Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come
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Thinking about holiness: its simplicity Wednesday was All Saints Day and Thursday, All Souls Day. Each November 1st and 2nd, we celebrate our friends in Heaven and pray for those who wait in Purgatory as we begin this month of the dead. Depressing? Morbid? Yeah, both if we ignore the reality–our bodies will die. But
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The universal search for meaning: belonging We’re created to belong—to someone, something. Whether it’s a person or a cause, belonging drives the universal search for meaning. Those Hamas terrorists? The Israeli fighters? The Ukrainian people and Russians? The Mexican cartels? The gangs in LA, New York, Chicago? In a sense, they’re all soldiers. Each is
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Photo from Captured and Exposed Louis Pranzini and the Laborers Today, October 1st, is the feast day of The Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux, one of only thirty-six saints to be declared a Doctor of the Church. In his twenty-six year pontificate, Pope John Paul ll canonized around 482 saints–only one of whom he
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A declaration of dependence America’s declaration of independence is fundamentally a declaration of dependence on God wrote Archbishop Fulton Sheen over eighty years ago. When we read the five-man committee’s words, we cannot help but be moved by their implicit reason and truth. WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to
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Antisemitism as spiritual evil “Prejudice means racism,” my friend insisted, reacting to my remark that we’re all prejudiced. About something, maybe many things. “No. It doesn’t. Think about the word itself: prejudge. It implies an opinion based not on fact or experience but “prejudgment,” closemindedness. Since her look was skeptical, I’m not sure I ever
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