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It is wonderful how a gentle and amiable heart can win others. –St. Francis de Sales If you trace the word back far enough, you’ll find that the word “courtesy” comes from two Latin words meaning “with a garden” (cum hortus). From there it came to mean the enclosed place around a building, and from … Read morePreparing for Courtesy

One of the more common arguments to the Resurrection is that Jesus passed out or “swooned” on the cross. Unless you broke the legs of the victims, it could take days for a person to die, but the Gospels report that Jesus died unusually quickly: Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who … Read moreDebunking Arguments Against the Resurrection: The Swoon Hypothesis

Courtesy isn’t so much a virtue in itself as a way of living other virtues. It shapes how a particular virtue is practiced in a social setting. Here are seven virtues needed if we are to be courteous. Humility. Suffice it to say that humility is the truth about who we are. The truth is … Read moreThe Seven Virtues of Courtesy

When one traces the golden thread of salvation history, the Holy Spirit is never absent. He is there, veiled or visible, from the dawn of creation to the descent at Pentecost. It was the Spirit who hovered over the deep (Gen. 1:2); the same Spirit who inspired the prophets of Israel (Ezek. 37:1-14); the same … Read moreThe Holy Spirit’s Work in Time

Practical Habits for a Life of Prayer Set sacred appointments: The prophet Daniel, even when prayer carried a sentence of death, knelt before the Lord three times daily (6:10). We, who live in the shadow of the cross and glory of the Resurrection, can do no less. Morning consecration, midday silence, and evening examination can … Read morePractical Habits for a Life of Prayer

One of the alternative explanations offered to the resurrection of Jesus is the idea that, on Easter morning, the disciples simply went to the wrong tomb, one that happened to be empty, and concluded that Jesus had risen from the dead. There are multiple problems with this hypothesis. Here are the biggest ones: 1) The … Read moreThe Wrong Tomb Hypothesis

God loves you as you are, but too much to leave you that way. Divine love does not leave the sinner undisturbed; it compels him to die, to rise, and to walk in “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). And true healing, the kind of healing that lasts and sanctifies, must be deeply doctrinal, sacramental, and … Read moreA Call to Transformation in Christ

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of documents discovered at the archaeological site Qumran, by the Dead Sea, in the 1940s. Most scholars hold that they were written by the Essenes, who appear to be connected to the priests of the Jerusalem temple, though the Essenes broke away from them, believing the temple to … Read moreThe Messiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls

It’s always nice to have some basic guidelines in any endeavor. A good caddy in golf is told to “show up, keep up, and shut up.” Ronald Knox said the best advice he could give on prayer was to “pray the way you can and not the way you can’t.” The best guidance I received … Read moreCourtesy and the Catholic Life; Four Guiding Principles

Why should I believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah? In Judaism, the Messiah has been understood a number of ways, and there is no single understanding of messianic prophecy or what the Messiah will do. Jesus did not wish to be a political revolutionary at his first coming, but the Christian faith holds that … Read moreJesus the Messiah

In 1964, Pope Paul VI issued the Second Vatican Council’s “Decree on Ecumenism,” called Unitatis Redintegratio, which translates from Latin as “The Restoration of Unity.” Right there, we see that the whole notion of denominationalism is wrong. And to their credit, the mostly Protestant thinkers involved in the “Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry” document from the World Council … Read moreWhy the Catholic Church is NOT a Denomination

St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) devised a way of examining our soul that moved away from looking only at the sinful thoughts, words, and deeds of our day. Ignatius’s introspection begins not with sins but with gratitude and the cataloging of daily blessings. This manner of praying later came to be called an Examination of Consciousness, … Read moreSt. Ignatius of Loyola and the Examination of Consciousness

The phrase choirs of angels does not mean a number of angels singing, as they did to announce to the shepherds that the Savior had been born. Rather, we will be looking at different groups of angels and the hierarchy among them. The Church has nothing doctrinal, no official teaching, on the specifics of these … Read moreChoirs of Angels in Scripture

Church teaching, including Scripture and Tradition, holds that angels are purely spiritual beings. Yet we also believe that they occasionally appear to have physical bodies, as in the Scripture stories: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2). Angels do not need bodies for their interactions … Read moreExplaining Apparitions and Visions of Angels

As I head off to my Pilgrimage and Journeying ‘experiment’ starting in Ponte de Barca, I reflect on the whirlwind of activities that has happened that past couple of days. In particular, I reflect on my experiences of my pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima. Fatima is a place … Read moreIn the Midst of Fatima: An Expression of Church Universal