We have found the Messiah…Andrew’s words reveal a soul waiting with the utmost longing for the coming of the Messiah, looking forward to his appearing from heaven, rejoicing when he does appear, and hastening to announce so great an event to others. To support one another in the things of the spirit is the true[…]
Month: November 2023
Feast of All the Franciscan Saints
November 29th is the traditional day on which are celebrated all the Saints of the Seraphic Order. It is with every reason that today the Universal Church celebrates the many Franciscan Saints who faithfully followed Jesus in St Francis’ humble and courageous footsteps, to serve as encouragement for everyone within the Franciscan Family to live[…]
The DSM, Psychiatry, and Big Pharma
The DSM – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual – is the textbook, one might even call it the bible, of psychiatry and psychology. After watching the presentation below, we might be tempted to rename it the DSFM – Diagnostic Science Fiction Manual. Like the literary genre, there is some science, mixed in with some fiction,[…]
A Panegyric on Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria – Whenever we think of her we cannot not mention her outstanding courage and resolve to follow Christ until the end. It was not a joke that an eighteen year old woman, especially in those days of huge conflict which fuelled the political and social turmoil of the time, would challenge[…]
Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!
Our Master bears the whole weight of the cross, leaving me only the tiniest, last bit. He is not a mere onlooker in my struggle, but a contestant and the victor and champion in the whole battle. Therefore upon his head is placed the crown of victory, and his members also share in his glory.[…]
Faith, Reason and Formal Objects
In 1998, 25 years ago, Pope Saint John Paul II published his encyclical, Fides et Ratio, on the relationship between faith and reason, the ‘two wings on which human reason rises to the heights of truth’. Everything we know, we know by these two modes – either we figure it out with our own wits,[…]
See how he himself provides you with a way of singing. Do not search for words, as if you could find a lyric which would give God pleasure. Sing to him “with songs of joy.” This is singing well to God, just singing with songs of joy. (Saint Augustine)
Christ the King
An Irish bull is a statement that is, strictly speaking, illogical and yet whose meaning is somehow clear. Yogi Berra, a baseball player of another generation, was famous for them, as when he said, “No one goes there anymore; it’s too crowded” and “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours”[…]
Indeed the blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb him whom she would[…]