Tag Archives: New Evangelization

A Promise to Love? The Possibility of the Catholic Wedding Vows

Posted on February 28, 2016 by

One of the fun things about being Catholic is that some of our prayers are a bit scary when one stops to ponder them. I’m not talking about prayers that only a few of us actually get around to praying, such as … Continue reading →

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Do Catholics Need to Talk About the Faith?

Posted on July 30, 2015 by

One theme that emerges from the Church’s documents on evangelization, education, and catechesis is the primacy of personal example, of the “witness” of one’s life over and above one’s mere words. As Pope Paul VI (1975) wrote in Article 21 of Evangelii Nuntiandi: … Continue reading →

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Philosophy, the handmaiden to Theology

Posted on February 17, 2014 by

Typically, when I tell people that I am a getting a Ph.D. in philosophy, a 20/80 split occurs: 20% react with overwhelming enthusiasm, telling me about how much they loved studying philosophy in college; 80% react with barely contained amusement/scorn, … Continue reading →

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Can you divide in two, then recombine? I don’t think so, loser.

Posted on December 31, 2013 by

Here’s a humbling thought for end of this year, and the beginning of the new one: compared to zygotes or early embryos, we are somewhat underwhelming as people. We just aren’t “all that,” as the kids used to say (what … Continue reading →

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Better than the book? A review of Ender’s Game, UPDATED

Posted on November 12, 2013 by

Because this not my dissertation, allow me to inflict upon you a needless biographical aside: I was ready–so very, very ready–to be annoyed by the recent film interpretation of Ender’s Game. First of all, it stars (albeit in a supporting … Continue reading →

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Is any mind stronger than yours?

Posted on July 30, 2013 by

In his book On Free Choice of the Will, St. Augustine considers the question of whether something outside of man could cause him to mentally give in to evil, to make his mind a “companion of cupidity.” He quickly rules … Continue reading →

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Why the Gifts? A thought from Caryll Houselander

Posted on July 17, 2013 by

If grace presupposes nature (as St. Thomas Aquinas liked to remark), then the things of grace can give hints as to what is naturally the case, what is naturally true. I recently ran across a nice illustration of this approach … Continue reading →

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