The Feast of the Annunciation is placed in the midst of Lent as an oasis in the desert. Just as the Lord did not leave the Israelites without food and drink for their forty years in the exodus from Egypt, he does not leave us empty-handed in our fast. Along the way, we are blessed [...]
A classic technique in sitcoms and movies is for the story to open at a climactic or bizarre moment, and then to rewind and use first-person narration to explain how the protagonist ended up there. The giveaway is usually a line like: “Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here.” Since I entered the [...]
Before dawn on a crisp November morning several years ago, I woke up, quickly got dressed, and headed outside. My Dad and I drove a short distance to a nearby field and got out of the car. He told me to walk slowly and quietly through the marsh until we arrived at our destination. We [...]
Saint Dominic, born into the heat of midsummer on the high plains of Spain, was made for this season. Instead of frustrating him, the heat drove him on. Preaching is a business that needs someone hot-blooded. The Spirit enkindles, but the preacher must tend the flame in the hearts God so desires. Zeal for souls [...]
A few weeks ago, I had the joy of showing my parents around the National Shrine in Washington. From my time as a tour guide, I had memorized a good course through the massive church’s chapels. I had honed plenty of phrases to explain the Basilica’s art with some level of edification and efficiency. As usual, we [...]
In Mary’s body, we see the total gift of God’s grace in raising and glorifying our lowly bodies to that “lofty goal” unattainable by our own efforts. All the evil which eats up our bodies—our diseases, discomforts, lusts, and addictions—will be trampled upon not by abandoning the body, but by glorifying it. As a child, [...]
Saint Dominic is a Trinitarian man; he is a Trinitarian man who established a form of life that, if lived faithfully, produces Trinitarian men and women. To be a Trinitarian man or woman is nothing more and nothing less than embracing the common vocation of every Christian: to live in communion with the Most Blessed [...]
Marigold by The Hillbilly Thomists Bluegrass is prophetic. Like Isaiah, it’s the song of the man of sorrows. Like Moses, it brings us to the desert as wayfarers far from home. It’s the music of a wanderer driven forward by his woes. And yet its driving energy reminds us that through the light of Christ, heaven’s [...]
Even a devout Christian thinks first of himself, of what he can do to glorify God. Although this is a good and holy desire, placing it first can be dangerous—it draws our eyes on ourselves rather than on God. The beauty of the Dominican life is that it puts first what ought to be first: the [...]
St. Gregory the Great once observed that we would all immediately read a letter sent to us by an earthly emperor, but most of us ignore the Scriptures even though they are personally addressed to us by the divine emperor. What kind of response, though, is due to the Scriptures? Under the Gaze of the [...]
Fr. Vincent McNabb possessed Christ’s special love for the poor and so spent his energy evangelizing, catechizing, and leading them to the remedy of the Gospel. He did this always with the joy of a man filled with the Holy Spirit. A Saint in Hyde Park: Memories of Father Vincent McNabb, O.P. by E. A. Siderman [...]
Jesus came to make us like God. By becoming our brother, the Son of God made us adopted sons of the Father—and this truth is the most shocking of all. The Word of God can shock us. As Dominicans, we immerse ourselves in the Word. We pray the Liturgy of the Hours, reciting and chanting [...]
It’s sometimes useful to feel useless. We live in a world where being called useless is perhaps one of the worst insults. I think I would rather be called smelly, fat, or maybe even dumb before useless. And for no small reason: we take pride in getting things done, maximizing our productivity, and working efficiently [...]
We are never without the help of God’s grace. Even in our world of trial and darkness, we can always choose the light. And we know that we have this freedom precisely because God is always with us in our decisions. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (1280 pages, Tor Publishing, 2011) At first [...]