Eating together, as a social event, is meant to be time-consuming because it is meant to be an intimate experience where friendship—true friendship—is experienced, rekindled, and love stands at the center of the dinner table. It is, in its own way, a call to sacrifice. Aristotle identified man’s eating habits as one of the cornerstones of civilization—one [...]
The ordinary times of our lives are not simply ordinary. The Christian tradition has always shown that every time is touched by Christ. As Christians, we offer our time back to Christ as spiritual worship. The ordinariness of Ordinary Time is setting in—not just liturgically, but even culturally. The wreaths are gone, the crèches are [...]
This Advent season does not center on our achievement; it is not the time of puffing ourselves up, but of waiting for God to reveal, as only God can, the new thing under the sun that breaks the great cycle of vanity. The greatest things are born from humility. There is something essentially comic about [...]
All serious Christian believers have an obligation to support those who are fighting for the truth in their own communions. We ought to take our cue from St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican who became Catholic, and who still engaged with other Christians—not only about doctrinal differences, but also about areas of agreement. The tiny [...]
In hearing the Bible read, the Word takes flesh before us and changes the souls of those who hear it. David Suchet’s delivery in his audiobook version combines force and gentleness. Never do you sense that he is simply doing a celebrity gig, or offering the Bible as a literary monument; he truly believes in [...]
If you are not praying, try to pray irregularly. If you are irregularly praying, try to pray regularly. If you are regularly praying, try to pray a bit more. And remember that wherever you are spiritually, God has not moved. It may seem obvious, but the first thing to say about the pursuit of deeper [...]
In a season of disharmony, discord, distrust, and disorder, it is often painful to stop, to pause, and to give oneself distance enough to consider what must be recognized as good, and true, and beautiful, even in what seems a cesspool of existence. To give thanks, though, is not only necessary, it is salubrious! In [...]
People often ask me about “spiritual reading.” I recommend Monsignor Knox. He gives us no visions or holy weirdness, which are themselves not necessary. Instead, he addresses us where we are in ordinary life. Ronald Knox (1888-1957) is a fascinating and too often underrated figure. Theologian Lawrence Cunningham observed a few years ago that, having [...]
Fr. Joseph Koterski was a good Jesuit in a hard time to be one, but he made it look so easy. The reason was no doubt his great love, which bears all things, believes all things, and hopes all things. “An old friend and a very good man. A good Jesuit when it was hard [...]
Earlier this summer, I was walking in our backyard, and I saw one of the brothers picking up cicadas from the sidewalk and putting them back on the trees they had fallen off, and it struck me that cicadas were a good image for the spiritual life. If King David can write in the Psalms [...]
Most of us have read or heard of the studies that show the mental benefits that come from learning a musical instrument. Such benefits include the development of fine motor skills, opportunity for frequent brain stimulation, improvement in cognition and dexterity, concentration enhancement, and increased neuroplasticity, to name a few. All of these benefits alone [...]
It is not so much because of need that gold has become an object of desire among men, as because of the power it gives most people to indulge in sensual pleasure. There are three things which produce love of material wealth: self-indulgence, self-esteem and lack of faith. Lack of faith is more dangerous than [...]
DuBose Heyward’s timeless lyrics and George Gershwin’s iconic melody in “Summertime” speak wisdom to our era of uncertainty. When we hear this American classic, may we always feel the presence of the Lord, remembering that God’s greatest desire is to be with each one of us in heaven for all eternity. “Summertime,” the classic opening [...]
When God commanded us to keep the seventh day holy and free from work, He expressed His knowledge of our nature, which we in the modern world rarely recognize. We are meant to rest, and we’re meant to enjoy our rest. If our pursuit of work and intensity is compromised because of our failure to [...]