Let us consider the case of a man who is facing a difficult decision—a decision, let us say, which will affect me. This decision involves a matter of some importance, and so I am deeply concerned that the man should make the right decision—right, suitable, impartial, just. I am not certain that he will in [...]
Josef Pieper stresses that the “end of times” religiously understood is not an annihilation. God does not revoke his creation. Rather, the “catastrophe” of the end times is to be understood as a final apotheosis of evil, leading to the end of time and earthly existence and opening out into redemption and new creation. “It [...]
It is not common that a person would recommend a philosopher to help you stay sane, but with the writings of Josef Pieper, if you have ever read even one of his books, you are likely to agree with me. Also, the range of his wisdom is most impressive. Some of the titles I have [...]
“Fortitude without justice is a source of evil.”—St. Thomas Aquinas The great moralists tell us that a person’s strength is often the source of his greatest weakness, whether it is business acumen, artistic creativity, or physical excellence. Any of these things can be exercised too much or in the wrong way. The same is true [...]
When set in motion, panic does not care what is in the way of its mad flight. All must be sacrificed—economy, society, and even worship—in the name of irrational fear. Moreover, it proves difficult to stop. What is missing in our reaction to the coronavirus pandemic is wisdom. In the face of the coronavirus crisis [...]
Only fools would send their children to school to listen to some teacher’s opinions, unless, of course, those opinions also happen to be true. Discussing St. Thomas Aquinas’s love of teaching, Josef Pieper writes: Teaching does not consist in a man’s making public talks on the results of his meditations, even if he does so [...]
Contemplation is nothing else than this: a loving gaze between a lover and the one loved. To be people of leisure requires that we are people of contemplation. If we are, we will experience a foretaste of heaven. As the school year is well underway, it may be worthwhile to examine the role which leisure [...]
Play is a deeply spiritual activity because play is primarily about community. The joy present between two that are playing together is a shared joy. It is neither the possession of one nor the other… But let us ever praise him, and extol His bounty, following our delightful task To prune these growing Plants, and [...]
It only took a moment. The smartphone was somewhere in the grass, forgotten. Our hands and jeans were covered in smears of purple and green sidewalk chalk. My two-year-old daughter and I were busy drawing roads and buildings on a square of pavement—here a library, there a post office, with our house around the corner. [...]
Education in the liberal arts is an ancient tradition that has slowly been eroded through our increasing attachment to approaching the world scientifically and pragmatically. The language of man reveals something significant about his nature and his relationship with the world. Language is so close to man’s nature that if it suffers a drastic change, [...]