We can learn a lot from the faith of the Magi. How often do we, who have the full revelation of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, instead seek our own worldly agenda, following the example of miserable King Herod? Blog post: https://spesindomino.org/2023/01/05/epiphany-faith-vs-power/
St. Anastasia shares in the Incarnation by sharing her feast day with the commemoration of Christ's Nativity on the Solemnity of Christmas. Blog post: Merry Christmas (and Feast of St. Anastasia)! - Spes in Domino
What is man that the Creator even notices us? And yet he does more: he becomes one of us. That's what we await during Advent. Read the original post at: What Is Man That Thou Art Mindful of Him? - Spes in Domino
Lets show a little love for the mother tongue. Read the original post here .
Who would you expect to be more open to conversion, prison inmates, or students at a Catholic college?
What if you set out not to find something? Atheists and the search for God.
This is the transformative power of faithful suffering. If we let him, Christ can transform our suffering into a powerful force for the good of our fellow men and women. Not only that, there are rewards for the sufferer as well. Our faith teaches us that when we join our sufferings to Christ’s, we never suffer alone. (Blog Post: " What do you say to a God who permits bone cancer in children? Ask Chiara Badano ")...
The Presentation looks back to Christmas, but ahead to the Cross, and reminds us that only Jesus Christ can make sense of the Paradox of Pain.
If you want to change the Church, if you want to change the beliefs that have animated Christians for two millennia, you need to take away the concrete images, the traditional words, and the familiar actions that embody the traditional understanding of the faith.
Does St. Thomas Aquinas teach that it's okay to disobey Catholic moral doctrine simply because our conscience tells us to do it? Listen to this podcast to find out.
How many times have we seen that the more formidable the opponent, the more dramatic the impact when he comes crashing down? The nascent Church faced just such an opponent in the days after the ascension of Jesus, an opponent much more formidable than the fighters James Jeffries and Robert Fitzsimmons put together.
Truth is the mortal enemy of Sin. There is nothing sin hates and fears more than the truth. Few issues illustrate that reality as starkly as abortion. In Roe v. Wade the court sacrificed the Truth of Human Life to the Untrammelled Human Will.
Ultimately, it comes down to a matter of truth. Our Lord tells us "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much." (Luke 16:10) How can we hope to be faithful to Him Who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6) if we're not faithful to the ordinary everyday truths?
The Body of Christ is more important than politics. Website version: "Who's really "politicizing" the Body of Christ?"
The new front in the Spiritual War is also the old front - Blessed Margaret Pole gave her life for the sanctity of the family. Readable version: "A Martyr for Marriage"
The story of three English kings shows us that we can't see what the consequences of our actions will be five hundred years from now. Readable version "Sins of the Fathers . . . and of Kings"
We shouldn't be afraid to let the Dogma live loudly within us.
Palestrina's "Veni Creator Spiritus" Performed by: The Sixteen To see my video and my discussion of the painting: "The Pentecost" by Fray Juan Bautista Maíno (1612-1614), go to: https://spesindomino.wordpress.com/2021/05/17/palestrinas-veni-creator-spiritus-and-mainos-the-pentecost-from-san-pedro-martir/
The classic argument for why belief in God is the best bet still stands.
Part II of a series. Below are links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Fr. Z's Blog The Cardinal Newman Guide to Colleges
The first of two episodes
Sure Merton got kind of iffy towards the end, but his good books are still well worth reading. Articles cited in the podcast: " Merton's Parable of the Trappists and Icarians " by Iacobus M “ More on Merton ” by Carl Olsen “ Can You Trust Thomas Merton? ” by Anthony E. Clark...
Thomas Merton is a name that can provoke a reaction from all manner of Catholics . . . all manner of reactions as well. This article, an update of a post I first published six years ago at the time of Merton's hundredth birthday, is about an illuminating story in one of his early (i.e., orthodox) books. I'll publish a follow-up post about Merton himself next week.
The second of two podcasts exploring how, as a Christian, to navigate the currents of religion, culture, and politics.
Religion, culture, and politics are not of equal importance - how is a Christian to sort it out? (1st of 2 segments)
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17) Deciding how to balance what we really owe to Caesar with what we owe to God is a perennial issue for a believing Christian. In the age of Covid and related governmental tomfoolery that question has become, let us say, even more acute.
The introductory post to my blog Spes In Domino. Twitter, Google, Facebook, etc. aren't God . . . but Somebody is . . .
The point is that the Church doesn't exist as a community for the sake of the community itself, it exists to bring us into communion with the Trinitarian God. Even fundamentally good and essential communities such as the family can't do that.
In this podcast I discuss how the amazing memories of Australia's oldest inhabitants inform our defense of the authenticity of the Gospels.
As the latest Gallup report shows, we are no longer or Christian or a moral people. Welcome to Mission Territory.
