The Word That Towers Over Betrayal

The Word That Towers Over Betrayal

Wednesday of Holy Week is a day traditionally focused on the betrayal of Judas Iscariot. One of the great gifts of the story of the Passion, and our commemoration of it in Holy Week, is the various characters with whom we can identify ourselves, and who reveal...
Do I Really Hear Other People?

Do I Really Hear Other People?

At the heart of relationships between people is hearing. Hearing, says Thomas Aquinas, is how we learn from another person. In the very same vein he says, “Hearing is the way to life.” But there is hearing, and there is hearing. And sometimes we might realize that...
Aquinas on What To Do With Fear

Aquinas on What To Do With Fear

We know that each kind of passion has an important place in human life. Contrary to the ‘Stoic’ position, passions are not simply to be squashed or set aside. But discovering and enacting the proper place of passions is anything but straightforward. Thomas Aquinas...
To Become a Witness to Mercy Today

To Become a Witness to Mercy Today

Home is our workshop of life, and we are artisans. We discover, pattern and forge–for spouses, friends, children and others–the key features of a human life. In an unforgettable line, St. Benedict enunciates a key to the whole project: “Never despair of...
Is Friendship a Fairy Tale?

Is Friendship a Fairy Tale?

I saw the world differently after reading in Chesterton (in The Ethics of Elfland) that fairy tales help us see that reality is more wonderful than we can imagine. This is profound; our real-life situation is better than a fairy tale! This is perhaps nowhere more...

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