This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Jeffrey Essmann. The […]
General
Led by the Spirit
Detail of Chair of St. Peter
Dnalor 01, Rom, Vatikan, Petersdom, Cathedra Petri (Bernini) 4, Detail, CC BY-SA 3.0
Just what is it that leads us through this life? This is a question we should ask ourselves and wrestle with from time to time. However, we should do this only after we have wrestled with the first and more immediate question: Where we are going in this life? Or perhaps more accurately, what is life really all about? Some […]
Time for Some Straight Talk
"The Lamb of God, John the Baptist and Andrew" (detail) by Ottavio Vannini (1585-c. 1643) [Public domain]
If you appreciate straight talk, the Gospel of John has a great way of getting to the point. “‘It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.But there are some of you that do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who those […]
Do Not Go Gentle…
There is an interesting irony to the Christmas season. The irony is that while so many people experience great joy during Christmas, many others, perhaps an equal number, experience depression. This is true for many reasons, not the least of which is that for many people, this season is merely a time of unfulfilled expectations. Those expectations may stem from something […]
Joy
Joy is more than happiness, just as happiness is more than pleasure. Pleasure is in the body. Happiness is in the mind and feelings. Joy is deep in the heart, the spirit, the center of the self. The way to pleasure is power and prudence. The way to happiness is moral goodness. The way to joy is sanctity, loving God […]
Good King Wenceslaus and Christmas’ Call to Holiness
Most Christmas carols are about that first Christmas night or the celebration of Christmas today. But one stands out as something different. In a way, the carol “Good King Wenceslaus” isn’t as much about Christmas as it is about what Christmas requires of us. “Good King Wenceslaus” always gets stuck in my head on two days: September 28 and December […]
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Learning from the Shepherds at Midnight Mass
"Adoration of the Shepherds" (detail) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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This message, indeed, “cannot leave us indifferent.” Because it is true, “it changes everything.” There is something beautifully symbolic about the tradition of Midnight Mass. It shows that Christians are so eager for Christmas to begin that they want to start celebrating on the first moment of Christmas day. People who ordinarily never go out late at night and are […]