Wednesday, July 17, 20190580For any flower to blossom fully, its roots must be nourished continuously and grounded in good soil. This simple fact of nature highlights, by analogy, the spiritual necessity of drawing constant inspiration from the first days and heroes of the early Church.
Tuesday, May 28, 20190323In the heart of Rome stands Piazza Venezia, a chaotic traffic circle in front of the gaudy Vittorio Emanuele monument, home to Italy’s tomb of the unknown soldier and dubbed “the wedding cake” by American tourists for its dazzling white marble. To the east of this monument stands a drab brown building, Palazzo San Marco, originally...
Friday, April 26, 20190175I stumbled upon a question during Holy Week, one that moved quite gracefully from a thought-experiment to prayer: how would Job respond to the suffering of Christ on the cross?
Friday, March 29, 20190153I recall playing with my nephew Lucas, who was roughly 2 years old at the time. I held up a mirror to him, and asked him whose picture he saw in the mirror. He shouted, “That’s Lucas!” I responded, “But who is Lucas?” With a happy giggle, he squealed, “Me!”
Friday, March 1, 20190505
By Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
My first years as a priest and spiritual director have taught me that many people do not love themselves as they should. This is hardly a matter of selfish egoism – we must, after all, begin with a healthy love of self if we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus...
Friday, February 1, 20190195God does not experience or suffer emotions as we do. Theologians rightly point out that the divine essence, so utterly transcendent, not limited by bodily form, cannot be moved or changed in the way that human beings are, subject as we are to the passage of time, emotional upheaval, and our mortal bodies. Given the radical differences...
Thursday, December 27, 20180229An elderly priest recounted to me a conversation he once had with a devout Muslim. The primary topic of their friendly dialogue was the identity of Jesus. When the priest had finished explaining the mystery of the Incarnation (that is, of God becoming fully human in Christ) as best he could, the Muslim snapped in response, “Why would...
Thursday, November 15, 20180204Humanae Vitae is not an elegant treatise on the Church’s traditional teaching against artificial contraception. It lacks the philosophical brilliance of Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body, which appeared a decade or so after Pope Paul VI absorbed crushing criticism of his encyclical “on human life.” Cardinal Ratzinger...
Thursday, October 18, 20180444My friend Father Josh Whitfield of St. Rita Catholic Church recently wrote a fine Dallas Morning News op-ed in which he suggests that America is experiencing a political and cultural unraveling, both of which are symptoms of a more terrible spiritual malady.
Saturday, September 22, 20180125By Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
Almost every semester, I teach a course for freshmen at the University of Dallas entitled “Understanding the Bible,” though most students prefer the hipster nickname of “Under the Bible.” I do not believe that I will ever tire of teaching this introductory class. I’m...
