Discerning the Gift of Priestly Celibacy in Relation to Marriage

Every candidate to the priesthood, even those in the Oriental rites where celibacy is optional, must discern whether God is offering them the “precious gift of priestly celibacy.”[1. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 16.] In the Latin rite, priesthood … [Read more...]

Male and Female He Created Them: Ecumenical Reflections

Confusion. Division. Chaos. Heresy. These terms describe the effects of the serious flirtations with the Zeitgeist currently afflicting to a lesser or greater degree the Catholic Church — see the German and Belgium episcopacy — and other chu … [Read more...]

Recollection: The Beating Heart of Prayer

“We must serve GOD in a holy freedom; we must do our business faithfully, without trouble or disquiet; recalling our mind to GOD mildly and with tranquility, as often as we find it wandering from Him.” — Br. Lawrence of the Resur … [Read more...]

Human Life and the Divine Life

Introduction The article presented here was originally written by the Dominican priest Fr. Ambroise Gardeil, O.P. (1859-1931). Fr. Gardeil was a professor at the house of formation for the French Dominican Province at the turn of the … [Read more...]

On the Problem of Mental Reservation

Should we lie when the Nazi stands at the door and asks us his infamous evil question? Traditional proposals about how to solve this problem by means of what is called “mental reservation” tend to be unsatisfying, because they are based on t … [Read more...]

Cultivating Time for Eternity

Ecology, Exceptionalism, and Apocalypse

The importance of ecology is no longer disputed. We must listen to the language of nature and we must answer accordingly. Yet I would like to underline a point that seems to me to be neglected, today as in the past: there is also an ecology … [Read more...]