Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
I just finished reading Ross Douthat’s (pronounced DOW-that) book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics. As I have told you before, I highly recommend this to your reading attention. The book is an excellent summary of what has happened to the Christian faith in the last sixty years, especially in this country. …
Continue reading “On Finding a Holistic Expression of the Church’s Moral Tradition”
Back in Seminary I remember a Church History instructor warning us not to be “too defensive” of the Church when others point to our shortcomings. He said that the Church is so big and so old, that just about anything you can say probably has some truth to it. He went on to clarify that …
The Gospel for today’s Mass contains some very clear instructions about Income that we do well to heed. Most of us think of money, income, and wealth as a great blessing. To be sure money is a necessary part of life. Without it our very life can be in danger for want of food, clothing …
Continue reading “You Can’t Take It With You But You Can Send It On Ahead”
There are many references to “the flesh” in New Testament Scripture, especially in the letters of St. Paul. The phrase confuses some who think it synonymous with the physical body. It is true that there are many times when Scripture uses the word “flesh” to refer to the physical body. However when the definite article “the” is …
The Diagnosis is in. The situation looks grave. From the test results, we’ve got some serious stuff wrong with us! You might say we’ve got a few issues! Yes, I’ve got your spiritual “medical chart” and mine open and I’m looking at the test results and the numbers don’t look good. We’ve tested positive for a …
Continue reading “The Diagnosis is Dire But The Doctor Is In”
Well this is a spoof of sorts: using Google to prepare for confession. But in some respects it’s not a bad idea! As a thoroughly modern member of the Body of Christ, right out there on the cutting edge, it might not be bad to prepare for confession by googling “Seven Deadly Sins.” Or perhaps …