A culture without public prayer is a culture that no political intervention can preserve. If the life of prayer is a vocation offered to all, then it follows that the practice of prayer must equally be within the reach of all. It is not an esoteric exercise, in other words, for which only the most [...]
In a world of spoiled children, indigent adults, victim complainers, and entitled brats of all ages, the one who accepts responsibility for himself will have the tools for high self-esteem, achievement, and success in every area of life. I was five years old when I “got saved”. We had been to the Sunday evening service [...]
When we listen to the cross, we hear the call of His love to rise above the misery of our current condition. And from the heights of the cross, we can see into the distant country of our eternal home. John 8: 21-30 sees Jesus in teaching mode but now with the Jewish crowd at [...]
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 [...]
The Letter of Clement provides our first glimpse of the Gospel fused with 'Romanitas'—a vision of Rome not so much as a symbol of strength and power as of unity and peace. Whereas the old 'Pax Romana' was achieved through conquest and force, the new order would be built on the love of Jesus. The [...]
Whatever a person’s place in life, Saint Benedict offers a “little Rule for beginners.” The principles of the spiritual life which he sets down put us down firmly in life right where we are. By paralleling family and monastery, today’s reader can glean simple yet practical wisdom for, as well as extraordinary insight into, the [...]
A well-ordered society requires the presence of three essential relationships: man's connection to the world, to one another, and to God. A young man anxious about his immortal soul approaches his pastor to complain about so many mediocre souls he’s forced to keep company with at Mass. “There must be a parish somewhere,” he asks, “where [...]
As I looked around that room in Washington, filled with so many powerful people, I realized that one day in Mother Teresa’s life brought more good to the face of the earth than all our efforts combined for a lifetime. It was utterly ludicrous, stepping out of a chauffeured White House limousine to go hear [...]
Our prayers, works, sufferings and joys are not independent sacrifices looking for their own justification before the throne of God. What brings them to life is the sacrifice of Jesus, His eternal yes. Mark 12: 28b-34 sees another of those dialogues between Jesus and a private individual – in this case, one of the scribes. Which is the [...]
Barbara J. Elliott Wife, mother, author, professor, social entrepreneur, Catholic evangelist, and faithful follower of Jesus Christ, Barbara J. Elliott illuminated the lives of thousands of people across the country and around the world. The author of five books and scores of articles, Barbara was an international television correspondent for PBS during the [...]
The king’s task is to weave the two kinds together, bringing out the good qualities in their opposite temperaments, so that virtues of both courage and moderation may be found together in each individual soul and in the city. Interrogated by the governor for political treason, the lowly Nazarene simply responds, “My kingship is not [...]
At Easter in the year 432, in the village of Slane, Ireland, Saint Patrick declared: “There is no better day for my task. I will announce my mission by lighting the Paschal Fire at this place on Easter Eve!” One day in Lent, a boat sailed up the winding reaches of the Boyne, past the [...]
A political system, however efficient, cannot be good if it clashes with ethics. We have to work for the restoration of local autonomy. There are things in which centralized control is necessary and beneficent; but there is a vast multitude of things in which it is unnecessary, and derogatory to human freedom and responsibility. Man [...]
None of us wants a theocracy, nor do we wish to have a totally secularized order. But both secular and sacred are to be joined in some way, the only question being how and to what extent. Have we still got a Christian consensus around which Americans of every possible persuasion can rally round? A public [...]