Without Guile
And Philip found Nathaniel, and told him, “We have discovered who it was Moses wrote of in his law, and the prophets too; it is Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” When Nathaniel asked him, “Can...
View ArticleRedeeming Jealousy
For love, thou know’st, is full of jealousy. —Valentine, Two Gentlemen of Verona (II, 4, 837) Jealousy, in whatever way it’s taken, arises from intensity of love. —St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae...
View ArticleAn Indecorous Incident
Ivan Ilyich saw that he was dying, and he was in continual despair. In the depth of his heart he knew he was dying, but not only was he not accustomed to the thought, he simply did not and could not...
View ArticleAsk If This Were Merited
Something strange is happening; there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. —from an ancient homily on Holy Saturday Christmas Eve, like Holy Saturday, is a quiet day....
View ArticleWhy Do the Heathen Rage?
Only four pages long, Why Do the Heathen Rage? is Flannery O’Connor’s shortest short story—a fragment, really, of an unfinished novel. The hero, sort of, is Walter Tilman, a twenty-eight-year-old...
View ArticleThe Shepherds of the Church
We Catholics take a lot for granted. Consider, for instance, the fact that our Church was founded by God. It’s scandalous. It’s downright impolite. To some, it’s even comically absurd. But then the...
View ArticleThe Sign by Which I Am Known
On the evening of that first day of the week, when, for fear of the Jews, the doors were locked where the disciples were, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”...
View ArticleA Friendly Shore
According to C.S. Lewis, Ronald Knox was “possibly the wittiest man in Europe.” But let’s not hold that against him. For one thing, he could hardly help it. For another, his wit is so understated, so...
View ArticleA Pale Light
Bl. John of Fiesole, better known as Fra Angelico, was one of the great painters of the early Renaissance. Many people don’t realize, however, that he was also a Dominican friar, and a very holy friar,...
View ArticleThe Value of Reticence
Never, never, never talk theology or discuss the Church with those outside it. . . . People simply do not understand what you are talking about and they merely (a) get angry and (b) come to the...
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