The Slant of Glory

“Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Glory be to the Father…” (Ps 126:1) (Introit from the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.) In America, the gravity of major weekend games, … [Read more...]

Integral Ecology and the Ecological Virtues in Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’

Introduction Several weeks ago, I made a conscious decision to refrain from reading too much secondary literature on Pope Francis’s impending encyclical, Laudato Si’. And by noon on the day of its release, I was almost depressed. A flood of … [Read more...]

Maritain on Just About Everything

“God is an All-powerful Cause because He gives to all things their being and their very nature and acts in them, more intimate to them than they are to themselves, in the way that is proper to their essential being; thus assuring from w … [Read more...]

The Forgotten Vice in Seminary Formation

We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. —C. S. Lewis from The Abolition of Man. (This article originally appeared in the May 2006 print e … [Read more...]

Practicing What We Preach

As he struggled with the question of whether or not to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, John Henry Newman expressed his desire to encounter ministers of Christ carrying out the mission of their Lord and his Apostles in … [Read more...]

On striving for perfection

Our ultimate goal in life, a supernatural goal, which is the face-to-face vision of God in heaven for all eternity, is a state of perfection.  Gradual progress or growth from imperfect to perfect is a natural characteristic of all living … [Read more...]