On Moral Perfection

All humans struggle with moral perfection, and temptations to sin are ever-present. Jesus tells us, “Temptations to sin are sure to come . . .” (Lk 17:1; RSV-CE). Yet Jesus, the Catholic Church, and Sacred Scripture call us to moral per … [Read more...]

The Importance of Recognizing Satan’s Existence

This essay is a sequel to my article, “Disbelief in the Existence of Personified Evil” in the August 2020 issue of this same publication. In that article, I explained Satan’s identity, his motives, his ways, the times in which he attacks, an … [Read more...]

Today’s Disbelief in the Existence of Personified Evil

The World, the Flesh, and the Devil

In my vocation as a coach, I have regular contact with youth and young adults, and they often confide their troubles to me. I have met many who have struggled with temptation, fallen into sin, and become enslaved by sinful habits. Their … [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...]

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Cor 13:11). It is a very good thing to learn one’s faith at a young age. And it is a very good thing … [Read more...]

Sifting Interior Movements of the Heart

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving … [Read more...]

God’s Armor versus the Devil’s Stratagems

Spiritual Combat Revisited

Introduction To say that we are living in thoroughly trying times is unfortunately neither an exaggeration nor a platitude. We are witnessing the symmetrically opposite progression of falling ethical standards on the one hand, and rising … [Read more...]

Lent: A Time for Conversion

Each and every day, we have the opportunity to be converted, to draw closer to Christ, and to better, and to more fully understand, our Christian responsibility to complete Jesus’ work in our world.   Many years ago, while walking with a … [Read more...]