Sunday, April 18, 2021025By Father Thomas Esposito
Special to The Texas Catholic
he first Christian Bible study was held Easter Sunday on the road to Emmaus. Cleopas and his anonymous traveling companion are wallowing in despair about the death of Jesus, to such an extent that they are fleeing Jerusalem moments after hearing reports that the tomb was empty....
Saturday, April 3, 2021057A healthy spiritual life is like a docile and trusting child happy to grow under a mother and father. In this image, we all need “spiritual direction” like we all need mothers and fathers, men and women ready to affirm, teach, console and challenge us. Like all good parents, our spiritual directors will aim above all to emancipate...
Sunday, March 21, 20210231I am not a psychologist in the modern technical sense of the term. I have no training in matters dealing with the brain or nervous system, and I possess only a rudimentary knowledge of human biochemistry. But I do love uncovering the etymologies of words, and therefore I can say that I aim to be a psychologist in the original sense of...
Friday, March 19, 20210106Children are increasingly growing up among adults in politics, entertainment and academia who encourage them, even well before puberty, to adopt sexual profiles that conflict with Church teaching, such as transgenderism. This is confusing for those who trust the Biblical understanding of God’s design for human sexuality, according to...
Friday, February 5, 20210164mmanuel Kant is not a household name among suburban Americans who don’t read philosophy, but he is one of those giants in the history of human thought whose influence is so immense that it appears anonymous to most.
Friday, January 22, 20210158In the July/August 2020 issue of Christianity Today, there is an article by Mark Regnerus, a sociologist at UT Austin, entitled “Vanishing Vows: Can the Church Save Marriage?” It previews his book, The Future of Christian Marriage, and reports interviews of young Christians in Mexico, Spain, Poland, Russia, Lebanon, Nigeria and the...
Friday, January 8, 20210218I learned recently that the priest who baptized me, Monsignor Joseph Ferraro, died of Covid-19 on December 17. Father Ferraro was a Navy chaplain stationed in Oakland, California when my father was on active duty, and he de-heathenized me when I was a month old. I never met Monsignor Joe as an adult, but we exchanged emails several years...
Wednesday, December 16, 2020077In Advent we meditate on the coming of Christ. Traditionally, we contemplate not only his coming at Christmas, but also his second coming at the end of time – his coming “in glory to judge the living and the dead” (as we say in the Nicene Creed).
Saturday, November 28, 20200333Christians look to the light of Christ, the true light that knows no darkness or extinguishing (see John 1:4-5), to irradiate the gloom of their own suffering. Our efforts to purify the weak and fluttering flame of our heart from the ravenous cravings of selfishness, lust, and greed dim the light we radiate to others, and can bring us to...
Saturday, November 14, 20200329I recently read a great book about Catholicism and science, “Particles of Faith” by Stacy A. Trasancos. It seems suited for anyone interested in the topic, and especially for undergraduates and precocious high-school students, or science-minded Catholics looking for excitement as they nourish their faith in a secular culture....
