Book Reviews – June 2023

As a Priest Thinks, So He Is. Ed. by Beth Rath McGough and Patricia Pintado-Murphy. Reviewed by M. Ross Romero, S.J. (skip to review) Pray, Think, Act: Make Better Decisions with the Desert Fathers. By Augustine J. Wetta, O.S.B. Reviewed … [Read more...]

Translating Each Other

A Rabbinic Reflection on Jewish-Catholic Understanding

Editor’s Note: Pope Benedict XVI reminded us in Verbum Domini 43, “I wish to state once more how much the Church values her dialogue with the Jews. Wherever it seems appropriate, it would be good to create opportunities for encounter and exc … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – March 2023

Ponder: Contemplative Bible Study for Year C. By Mahri Leonard-Fleckman. Reviewed by Fr. Vien V. Nguyen, SCJ. (skip to review). Christopher Dawson: A Cultural Mind in the Age of the Great War. By Joseph T. Stuart. Reviewed by Thomas V. … [Read more...]

Walking Through the “Orchard” of Scripture

 Encountering a Rabbinical Tradition of Biblical Reading with Christian Eyes

Premise: Searching for Meaning One of the basic notions that we must take into consideration when reading Scripture is the complexity of meaning(s) “words” can communicate. Why? The divine revelation manifested in the written word resides i … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – September 2022

The Light Entrusted to You: Keeping the Flame of Faith Alive. By John R. Wood. Reviewed by Aaron Martin. (skip to review) The Education of a Historian: A Strange and Wonderful Story. By John W. O’Malley. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. ( … [Read more...]

The Terminal State of Unbaptized Infants

Since the earliest centuries of the Church, Christians have debated the terminal state of unbaptized babies. (This paper will use the term “unbaptized babies/infants” to represent all who die without baptism and without the cognitive abi … [Read more...]

The Eucharist: The Prima Via of Divinization

The current state of the Church in our contemporary age, and those salient points to which she sets her vision, would suggest that the Eucharist remains at the core of all her efforts and activity.[1. Catechism of the Catholic Church (Citta … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – May 2022

The Decline and Fall of Sacred Scripture: How the Bible Became a Secular Book. By Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker. Reviewed by Nathan Farrar. (skip to review) Exegetical Gems from Biblical Hebrew. By H.H. II Hardy. Reviewed by D. Malachi … [Read more...]

Becoming Members of the Suffering Servant

“For This Shall Every Good Man Pray”

The final Gospel ends with Jesus teaching us to fish for human souls. The three synoptic Gospels report Jesus saying, “I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10); the conclusion of the final Gospel describes Jesus i … [Read more...]

Were Adam and Eve Bad Parents?

An Ancient Lesson for Modern Parenting

Were Adam and Eve bad parents? It may seem like a bizarre question, but the challenge of parenting plagues many Catholics who are striving to raise their kids in the Church. Each fall, parents drop their sons and daughters off at college, … [Read more...]

The Son as Sacrament

The Eucharistic Poetry of John the Evangelist

The longer I have lived on this earth, the more I have fallen in love with the Eucharist and the sweet song of love it sings to me. As I drink in the Living Water of God’s word each day, I am swept away by the overwhelming flood of grace t … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – August 2021

In Christ Alive in Me: Living as a Member of the Mystical Body. By Fr. David Vincent Meconi, S.J. Reviewed by Joe Serwach. (skip to review) Mystical Prayer: The Poetic Example of Emily Dickinson. By Charles M. Murphy. Reviewed by … [Read more...]

Faith and Reason, Like Milk and Cookies, Are Better Together

The old comedy series “Get Smart” featured a gizmo called the cone of silence. It was a glass silo that descended upon a group who wanted to have a private conversation. It never worked very well. The information silos in which technology wi … [Read more...]

The Biblical Mariology of Pope Benedict XVI, Part 1

Hail, Full of Grace

“The unique and unrepeatable position that Mary occupies in the Community of Believers . . . stems from her fundamental vocation to being Mother of the Redeemer. Precisely as such, Mary is also Mother of the Mystical Body of Christ, which i … [Read more...]

What Direction Does the Church Give to Homilists?

Every Catholic has an opinion about how homilies ought to be preached. And while such personal observations and insights can be helpful, they do not provide a solid foundation upon which to build a sound understanding of what the substance … [Read more...]