Tortures Nothing has changed. The body is susceptible to pain, it must eat and breathe air and sleep, it has thin skin and blood right underneath, an adequate stock of teeth and nails, its bones are breakable, its joints are stretchable. In tortures all this is taken into account. Nothing has changed. The body shudders […]
Can you imagine each person on earth serving the needs of others? Neither can I. Yet, by nature, there are some things that are harder for each of us and require a helping hand. You may argue that in times of crisis people help people and you would be correct. A fire truck is dispatched […]
News that eleven of the late Jack Kevorkian’s paintings are up for sale in Los Angeles—at “upward of $45,000 per canvas”—are a reminder that long before there was Kermit Gosnell, there was Jack Kevorkian. Whereas abortionist Gosnell was angered when the Philadelphia Attorney General called his abortion clinic a “House of Horrors,” Kevorkian (a publicity […]
The Scribes and Pharisees are presented with a conundrum when they argue with Jesus in the temple. They are the religious experts of their day. They know the scriptures inside out and upside down and keep every letter of the law. Yet in their arrogance, with only their human wits to guide them, they are […]
Ring. Ring. “Hello, this is Tom.” “We know who you are, Tom. In the digital age, you will be shocked by what we know about you.” “Who is this? The National Security Agency? I thought President Obama issued orders to rein you in!” “That’s a good one, Tom. Obama told the NSA to stop storing […]
Love is in the will. When a man and a woman get married, they pledge their love to each other with the words “I do.” That “I do” is a consent of the will. Our will is that aspect of us that decides and acts. The will differs from feelings and emotions. Your will is […]
Reflections for Sunday, April 13, 2014 (Palm Sunday) Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14–27:66) The Victory of the Cross From now on you will see “the of Man seated at the right hand of the Power” and “coming on the clouds of heaven.” […]
Transhumanism is everywhere. We are being steeped in it like a tea bag in hot water. Not all the images are favorable, but shows like Almost Human, Intelligence, and Lab Rats and movies like the Bourne Legacy, Her, and Transcendence keep transhumanist themes always percolating, especially in the minds of those who will be most […]
The King in the book of Daniel does not like the true God. Perhaps even before the “Magnificat” was uttered by the Mother of Jesus, the King already knew that the true God would scatter the mighty such as he from his throne. So the King decides to builds his own God. Standing at 9 feet […]
A priest helping Christians sheltering in Syria’s Old City of Homs has been murdered. Dutch Jesuit Fr. Frans van der Lugt was shot twice in the head this morning, April 7. Speaking from Syria, fellow Jesuit Fr. Ziad Hillal told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), “Fr. Frans was apparently killed by […]
A friend of mine recently asked: “What graces are promised in sacramental marriage? Is the guarantee and promise something that we give or something we expect to get?” The answer is: The grace to do the work of marriage is promised to a baptized man and woman who unite in matrimony. What they do with that grace is […]
Wesley J. Smith has a disturbing article dealing with Oxford bioethicist Julian Savulescu’s proposal to screen human embryos for intelligence. Smith quotes Savulescu: A common objection is that being smarter does not make your life better. In this study, researchers were concerned with those with an IQ between 70-85. Below 70 is classified as intellectual […]
“You belong to what is below; I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.” I have a lot of crazy things to belong. Most were embarrassing or even downright stupid: such as smoking, swearing and pretending you had an active sex life, skipping school, […]
Have faith. But when you are at the lowest of your moods, how do you have faith? Where does that ability to have faith come from? Presently I am reading a book about being happy despite your circumstances. Being happy doesn’t fix the problems and concerns of daily life, happiness doesn’t even pay the bills […]
My father’s generation knew the Holocaust of the Nazis. The holocaust of abortion and soon euthanasia and assisted suicide hangs over mine. Nazi propaganda Minister Josef Goebbel’s guiding maxim was “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will come to believe it.”[1] The Lie was of Aryan superiority and their […]
Scribes and pharisees are obsessed with Christ. They have the single-mindedness of saints and the hypocrisy of sinners. They feature prominently in the story of the woman caught in adultery, saying and doing more than she does. What do they say, then, to Christ or to this woman? What do they do? And how does […]
Some find it hard to accept that God would love some people more than others. That wouldn’t be fair, they say. But God became man. If he did not love some more than others, Jesus wouldn’t be fully human. For human beings have family and friends. While we can do good and even risk our […]
Editor’s Note: Looking for a way to deepen your prayer this Lent and Easter? ShaneKapler’s Through, With, & In Him shows readers how the Church’s sacraments, liturgy, and private devotions unite them to the prayer continually issuing from the heart of Christ. Here is a first look, compliments of Angelico Press: As [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of […]
If I Write Academia: “Write of roses, daffodils, and violets, White linen, drownings, and yellow-wallpaper creeping madness” If I write: This artist will write of Your painted rainbow mists– Blue mornings, pink horizons, and golden oceans! If I write: This gray moth will write of Your stained-glass-monarch-butterfly universe! If I write: This traveler will write of worlds that collide […]
When people manipulate words, even scripture, with the sole purpose of supporting their own point of view, instead of the truth, they are using a form of sophistry. Sophistry could also describe the logic used by a lawyer intent upon persuading a jury to find a criminal not guilty. The word sophistry describes the language and logic […]
Today, we Dominicans commemorate the feast day of St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419). He was an outstanding preacher whose passion and zeal for the salvation of souls knew no bounds. There is much we can learn from him today. His early years – Prior to his birth in Valencia, Spain on January 23, 1350, Vincent’s parents, […]
One of the points I try to stress with those joining me on the many trips I host to Rome and other Christian holy places is the difference between a tour and a pilgrimage. A tour is more of a fun seeking trek to an exotic location, one filled with great photo opportunities that contain […]
Webinars are an increasingly popular tool for spreading the word about a company or product. But are they the right tool for spreading the Word of God? They certainly can be. The key is to turn a webinar into an online retreat by creating a spiritual atmosphere that reminds people that where two or three […]
In Wednesday’s general audience, the Holy Father wraps up his series on the sacraments by covering that of Holy Matrimony. It is fitting he saved the sacrament for last, because in the end, matrimony is what we are all called to. Even if we choose the religious life, we are called to nuptial union with […]
