Arbiter of Morality: Caesar or God
These are delicate times, in the Church and in the world. Our blessed Lord has already told us how to understand the state vis á vis the Church: Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to...
Tagged: theology
The Ordo Amoris, JD Vance… and Flannery O’Connor
The priest stood transfixed, his jaw slack. Mrs. McIntyre wondered where she had ever seen such an idiotic old man. “Christ will come like that,” he said in a loud gay voice and stood there, gaping. Mrs. McIntyre’s face assumed...
Sacramentality in light of Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, Part I
O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in a manger. O blessed virgin, whose womb was worthy to bear the Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia! This evening began our last thematic celebration of the...
The Genius of John Paul II: Thomistic Renewal
You know what they say: Theology – you can’t live with it, you can’t live without it. Quite seriously: There is a problem inherent in theological study. This may not be obvious in prospect, but with even a little experience, the...
The Myth of the Ontological Superiority of the Priest
The priest is not an angel sent from heaven. He is a man, a member of the Church, a Christian. Remaining man and Christian, he begins to speak to you the word of God. This word is not his own....
What Scott Hahn’s public support for Bishop Strickland signifies
This week, someone sent me a link to Scott Hahn’s Facebook page, where the prominent Catholic professor, author, and speaker shared Bishop Joseph Strickland’s latest pastoral letter, writing, “I am grateful for Bishop Strickland’s inspiring words.” Later, another reader mentioned...
Capital Punishment and Magisterial Authority, Part 1
Editor’s note: In recent years, the Church’s teaching on the death penalty has been a topic of much debate among Catholics, especially in the United States where the practice is still legal. In this essay, “Capital Punishment and Magisterial Authority,”...
I believe so that I may understand
A reflection on the readings of April 23, 3023 — The Third Sunday of Easter Almost one thousand years ago, St. Anselm of Canterbury penned his famous ontological argument for the existence of God. This philosophical proof has been debated,...
Three disparate paradigms at Vatican II
[Editor’s Note: This is the third installment in a series on “Vatican II and Theological Paradigms” by Michel Therrien, STL, STD, exploring the root causes of internal divisions and polarization in the post-conciliar Church, particularly the debate over the possibility...
Pope Francis on protecting the truth of the faith
Anyone who has played youth baseball or softball has seen a backstop, a large structure made of chain-link fencing that is erected behind home plate to serve as a barrier in case a wild pitch or errant throw gets past...
A Post-Conciliar Tribal Church
[Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series on “Vatican II and Theological Paradigms” by Michel Therrien, STL, STD, exploring some critical issues in the post-conciliar Church, particularly the root causes of internal divisions and polarization. In this series,...
Theological Flights of Fancy
The work of theology, in addition to looking over what we know and what we can extrapolate from divine revelation or from the observable world around us, also inherently involves a certain amount of speculation. Sometimes our theological speculation involves...
Popular Posts