Instruction 
Instruction on the Rule by noteworthy modern day monastics or oblates
The tragedy of a life centered on “things”
The tragedy of a life centered on “things,” on the grasping and manipulation of objects, is that such a life closes the ego upon itself as though it were an end in itself, and throws it into a hopeless struggle with other perverse and hostile selves competing together for the possessions which will give them… Read More ›
Prayer can spark God’s mercy
Vatican City, May 18, 2011 / 10:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI continued his series of reflections on Christian prayer today as he spoke about the relationship between intercessory prayer and God’s mercy throughout history. In his third installment on prayer, Pope Benedict looked at Abraham’s example of praying for mercy. “We now turn… Read More ›
The paradox of human existence
There is a paradox that lies in the very heart of human existence. It must be apprehended before any lasting happiness is possible in the soul of a man. The paradox is this: man’s nature, by itself, can do little or nothing to settle his most important problems. If we follow nothing but our natures,… Read More ›
Prejudices and bigotry (part 1)
When talking about prejudices and bigotry, people will often speak of them as if they are the same. They belong to the same genus, but a different species (at least in my opinion). I had an interesting experience at the doctors’ office yesterday, while at one of the Emory’s clinics. I made a statement about… Read More ›
Yes!
When meditating on one of the final prayers of Jesus on the cross- “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me”; if pursued with diligence, can be transforming in how ones relationship with God is looked upon and also perhaps, how this is shared with others. For Christians, Jesus is an actual revelation of… Read More ›
God’s attitude toward sin is not blame but pity
My tendency in prayer is then to try to put my sin behind me. Acknowledging only that it was an interruption in our relationship, I want to forget it when I come before God. This is a mistake. It is like hiding one’s symptoms from a physician. To go to prayer aware of the shabbiness… Read More ›
Our sin is a happy fault
By falling we have the chance to plumb the mysteries of the divine mercy. Indeed our sin is a happy fault, as the deacon sings during the Easter vigil: 0 felix culpal But this is sin admitted, accepted and confessed, not sin hidden, denied and forced underground. God does not forgive grudgingly; showing mercy is… Read More ›
Reality and Existence
The man who lives in division is not a person but on an “individual.” I have what you have not. I am what you are not. I have taken what you have failed to take and I have seized what you could never get. Therefore you suffer and I am happy, you are despised and… Read More ›
Christianity a’la carte
If reason insists on shutting down every opening to the sacred, the result will be an eclipse of reason itself . . . The eclipse of the sacred has led to a do-it-yourself approach to the holy, to a kind of supermarket of religious faiths . . . Christianity a’la carte . . .By contrast,… Read More ›
Alienation
If we want to understand alienation, we have to find where its deepest taproot goes and we have to realize that this root will always be there. Alienation is inseparable from culture, from civilization, and from life in society. It is not just a feature of “bad” cultures, “corrupt” civilizations, or urban society. It is… Read More ›