Whatever happened to sin? For the answer to this perplexing question, simply replace the question mark with a period. What happened to sin is that the “whatever” perspective on right and wrong has rendered sin archaic. When whatever feels...
Have you ever felt like a failure? Have you ever told yourself that you are too ugly or too fat to wear something? Have you ever not done an activity because you felt that you were not good enough? Have you ever told yourself you are unworthy and...
In a recent Sunday Gospel reading, Jesus reminded us that the gate into heaven is a narrow one. (Luke 13) The reading made me uncomfortable. The Church tells us that sin requires an element of knowing that we are doing it. The Gospels this summer...
If the angels were capable of envy, they would envy us for two things; one is the receiving of Holy Communion, and the other is suffering. (Diary 1804) Today, millions of Catholics, religious and lay people, continue to pray for the situation in...
“For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1) St. Paul writes to us of a type of freedom loftier than the one guaranteed us by the Constitution. It is the freedom for which Christ died and...
One of the most interesting and colorful figures in the Church’s history is the African monk and martyr St. Moses the Ethiopian, who was born around the year 330. He had a big, muscular physique, and an even bigger temper, along with a vicious...
St. Ephrem, a deacon and theologian who lived in the 4th century, was pondering the question of why God allows good people to be tempted; after all, he thought, it would seem reasonable that He would want to spare His children this difficulty...
It is often said that the father of all sins is pride. If that is the case, then their mother is surely covetousness, the strong desire or wish for what someone else has. Covetousness has its own Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet . . . ,” and it is...
