Articles

Pride: The Subtle and Deadliest Sin I have said many times and will not tire from saying, pride is the

Mortal Sin, Grave Matter, and Moral Theology I had an interesting conversation the other day about the assertion “smoking is

  The Problem with Slacktivism and Surface-Level Support It’s not that unusual to be asked to ‘support’ some cause via

The Importance of Knowing God Having an opinion is good. Nearly everyone does. Religion is a funny matter in that,

  Misunderstanding “Judge Not” Long before the media got a-hold of and twisted Pope Francis’ “Who am I to judge?”

  Pope Benedict’s Example of Withdrawal for Prayer The great man of God, Pope Emeritus Benedict, has put himself in

Understanding Conversion: A Lifelong Change It’s a notion we take for granted. We all know what it means – but

How Fashion and Culture Distort Masculinity Fashions change. When we were kids we used to laugh at the very idea

Worrying About What Truly Matters Lots of people worry about lots of things. Their worries aren’t necessarily mine, and vice

Jesus’ Teaching on Forgiveness Jesus preached a great deal about forgiveness. It must have been a central part of His

The Humble Significance of feet in the Bible “Feet!” someone said when I asked for a good blog topic. They

Christianity and the Challenge of the World Chesterton’s famous phrase, ‘Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has

There is more to life than happiness. Actually, that depends on how you define happiness. A hedonist is someone who

The great thing about the H. G. Wells book, The Time Machine, is how effectively it demonstrates the fact that life

Failure is a relative thing. The only definition of it that really matters is God’s. God loves good and hates

Conduct After Mass: Preserving Sacred Communion 1. EUCHARISTI  |  After-Mass chatter, although it may revolve around holy and good things,

I was reading the great Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, whom I enjoy thoroughly, but was struck, paradoxically, by a

The Historical Distortion of Christian Views on Poverty Something so straight-forward has been massively controversial since the late 18th century.

  The Struggle with Modern Depictions of Holiness I am too much of a scholar to believe that I know

Rethinking Vocation: Then and Now The idea that people have a vocation to a particular kind of life is a

Aesthetics, the theory of beauty, is becoming a big topic for theologians. Of the so-called transcendentals – truth, goodness, and

Reading as a Form of Prayer A few times in these posts I’ve recommended that people read good books to

Self-Discipline: The Foundation of Temperance Temperance and self-discipline is essential to living a good life. And, regardless of what the

The Kerrs are Scotch-Irish, I am told by my genealogist-friend; that is to say, Scots who settled in Ireland in

One of the most moving things I have ever read came from an unexpected place: the forward to a biography

A World Full of Worries Life today is one worry after another, isn’t it? Just because you have faith, and

I had a really interesting conversation with a friend the other day. As we were developing our thoughts, I tried

There are two types of errors about the relationship between my will and God’s will: they never agree, or they

Heroism Begins Within: Virtue, Vocation, and the Battle for the Soul The renewal of baptismal promises strikes me as something

Courtesy is a civic virtue. It is anticipating how others will be effected by our actions and then doing something

The Heart of True Religion They call kale a ‘super food.’ Did you know that Catholicism is a super religion?

In this day and age everything is decided by perception and by manipulating the crowd, not by an objective standard

It was once unimaginable that loyalty to our Western Christian Democracies could conflict with our loyalty to God. These countries—I