Fr. D. Paul Sullins, PhD, is a married Catholic priest. He was formerly an Episcopal minister and has been blessed with a marriage of 30 years and three children. Fr. Sullins recently retired as a Professor of Sociology at the Catholic … [Read more...]
Articles
Patience a Spiritual Sign
Pope Francis and Tertullian on Patience
Pope Francis set forth the vision for his pontificate in his first apostolic exhortation Evangellii gaudium, a clarion call for evangelization through joy in the modern world. A fitting diptych to this first document is his most recent … [Read more...]
The Bible as Official History
A person who holds a Bible handles something that is both utterly unique and so common as to seem ubiquitous. Millions of copies in hundreds of translations have appeared since Herr Gutenberg invented his famous press. Individual books of … [Read more...]
The Eucharistic Christology of Pope Benedict XVI
In Commemorationem Christi
Christ is truly present among us in the Eucharist. His presence is not static. It is a dynamic presence that grasps us, to make us his own, to make us assimilate him. Christ draws us to himself, he makes us come out of ourselves to make us … [Read more...]
Teaching Humanae Vitae in the “Front Trenches” — Where It Ultimately Counts
Tumult Late July, 1968; large-tiered classroom at a Jesuit university. New Testament scholar Max Zerwick, SJ, is expounding upon the prologue to John’s Gospel, word by word, pericope by pericope. We graduate theology students, 150 s … [Read more...]
A God with Skin
Recapturing the Incarnational Nature of the Sacraments
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14) Since her beginning, the Catholic Church has been an incarnational institution, a B … [Read more...]
Believing and Praying
The Power of Homilies
It’s often been said that by reflecting on what we have received in the tradition of liturgical prayer we can discover what we believe; prayer as a source of doctrine. The reverse is also true. What we believe determines what we pray — or wh … [Read more...]
A Surprising Beatitude
Dashing the Little Ones upon the Rock
In a 2007 class on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesuit Fr. James Swetnam passed along to us two words of wisdom from German Biblical scholar Joachim Jeremias. The first word: read a chapter of New Testament Greek every day. Indeed, very wise … [Read more...]
The Noonday Devil
The ninety-first psalm speaks of “the scourge that wreaks havoc at high noon.” It also expresses confidence in God’s protection from that scourge, as well as other evils. Based on that psalm some spiritual writers speak of the “Noonday Devil … [Read more...]
The Enriching Complementarity of Faith and Science
“By faith alone do we hold, and by no demonstration can it be proved, that the world did not always exist,” writes St. Thomas Aquinas, implicitly making a claim about the proper relationship between faith and science.[1. Thomas Aquinas, Sum … [Read more...]
Happiness — A Thomistic Consideration (Part II)
Continued Reflections on Summa Theologiae I-II, Q 1–5
Introduction to Part II The three pillars of Catholic social teaching, which springs from natural law and human nature, are human dignity, common good, and subsidiarity. Within societal structures with hierarchical poleis (e.g., federal, … [Read more...]
Mary Is Made for You
Sometime ago a priest gave what may initially seem a cryptic kind of homily. Personally, I have not heard a homily about Mary such as this, and yet this is precisely the homily that men need (and, by direct extension, what women need men) … [Read more...]
Answers Concerning the Charism of Healing
The recent article by my colleague Phil Blosser, “Questions Concerning the Charism of Healing,” gives me an opportunity to address the misconceptions, concerns, and fears that many Catholics have about prayer for healing and about the cha … [Read more...]
Happiness — A Thomistic Consideration (Part I)
A Reflection on Summa Theologiae I-II, Q 1–5
Introduction At some point in the life of every human person the great questions arise in their ponderings: “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” “Where am I going?” These questions encompass the ultimate question of our own mortality: … [Read more...]
Finding Christ in the Beggar, Finding Christ in the Chalice
If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice. – St. John Chrysostom.[1. Attributed to St. John Chrysostom, this may be a short paraphrase of Homily 50.4 on the Gospel of Matthew.] The m … [Read more...]
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