Friday, May 29, 20200201The modern Greek word for “Thank you,” eucharisto, immediately calls to our Christian minds the gift of Christ’s body and blood, commemorated in our Eucharistic liturgy. The proper response to eucharisto today might not be as recognizable, but it is equally rich in theological meaning. The word parakalo, which functions as...
Thursday, May 7, 20200291Sheltering in place might not look much like a dark wood, but my time in quarantine has brought Dante to the forefront of my mind. I have long been awed by the brilliance of his “Divine Comedy,” the indescribably beautiful rhythm and rhyme of his Italian, and the sheer bravado that inspired him both to locate his own contemporaries...
Wednesday, April 22, 20200198Luke begins his account of Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah with a rather curious phrase: “Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’” (Luke 9:18). Those who already know the answer might gloss over the sheer oddity of the opening...
Friday, April 10, 20200217Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
When I read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ ministry, I often pause to ask myself: would I have been brave enough to accept his invitation to discipleship if I heard him with my own ears? Had I been a believing Jew following his ministry, could I have embraced his vision of my...
Friday, March 27, 20200233The word “quarantine” as we use it today was first coined in 14th century Venice – the leaders of that most serene watery republic ordered a mandatory period of isolation for people arriving in ships during the Black Death outbreak. A sequence of 40 days — una quarantina in modern Italian — was sufficient, they deemed, to...
Friday, March 6, 20200120By Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
January 27 marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most notorious of the Nazi extermination camps. Noting that occasion, Paraclete Press published the translation of a Jewish-Catholic woman’s experience in the death camps. Entitled “The Auschwitz...
Friday, February 7, 20200270If posed to a general audience, the question “What is prudence?” would likely elicit a series of memorable and perhaps depressing answers, ranging from “a name for a cranky granny” and “a cool Beatles song from the White Album” to “excessive hesitation in coming to a decision” and “the Catholic way of saying ‘NO’ to...
Thursday, January 16, 20200371This column is simply an exhortation to you, good reader, to watch and ponder the film “A Hidden Life.” The movie chronicles the true story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer, devoted husband, father of three young girls, and a devout Catholic who refused to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler, and was consequently condemned...
Wednesday, December 18, 20190197In the book of Exodus, the Lord instructs Moses to build a suitable place for His glorious presence (Exodus 25-40). Described simply as “the dwelling,” the Ark of the Covenant was a gilded wooden tabernacle containing the stone tablets of the commandments and manna, the bread from heaven. More important than these covenant treasures,...
Monday, November 4, 20190338The recent devastation of trees, homes, and stores by a tornado proves once more the utter powerlessness of man before the might of nature. No matter our planning, our insurance policies, and our efforts to avoid the prospect of death and disaster, the immense and unpredictable forces of earth, water and wind are never tamed by mere...
