All children argue. And the children of God are no exception. Indeed, sometimes we ought to have a good argument. No, we ought not fall into those petty fights and silly quarrels that we often do. But neither should we…

Traditionally, the Church has understood Our Lord’s three temptations in the desert as a summary of the temptations we face. St. Thomas observes, “The matter of all sins were included in the three temptations.” By this interpretation, Our Lord occupies…

We always attach particular importance to a president’s inaugural address. That speech captures the newly sworn-in president’s intentions and purpose for his term. It sets the tone and charts the course for the next four years. So we make special…

Pontius Pilate would feel very much at home in our culture. His cynical question — “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38) — captures the prevailing mindset of our day. It provides a three-word summary of relativism — the view that objective…

We know very little about the people our Lord healed. We know he healed many, but we hear few details about them. And yet from each one of them we can learn something about ourselves and about the healing we…

It is probably not a sign of spiritual health when you agree with the Pharisees. We know that the Pharisees opposed our Lord in His ministry and message. Yet few of us would dispute their criticism that some of our…

In the “electronic age” we may not grasp the significance of a seal. After all, we will more likely hit the “send” button than seal and post a letter. We will sooner click “open” than break the seal of an…

Tucked away in a little room on the ground floor of the National Gallery of Art you will find a wonderful medieval sculpture called “Holy Kinship.” It depicts Jesus, Mary and Joseph — and our Lord’s grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles…

We grow so accustomed to and familiar with certain things that we risk losing sight of their significance. “Familiarity breeds contempt,” the old saying goes. Not outright, malicious contempt, perhaps. But certainly such neglect and disregard that appear contemptuous. Such…

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