Friday, December 25, 2015

Augustine Christmas

Christmas
The maker of Mary, He was born of Mary;
The son of David, He is David’s Lord;
The maker of earth, made on earth;
Creator of Heaven, created under Heaven;
He is Himself the day which the Lord made, the day of our heart, that is the Lord.

He lies in a manger, but holds the world;
He is nursed by Mary, but feeds the Angels;
He is wrapped in swaddling clothes, but vests us with immortality;
He found no place in the inn, but makes for Himself a temple in the hearts of all who believe in Him.

He who so loves us, that for our sakes
He was made in time, through Whom all times were made;
Was in the world less in age than His servants, though older than the world itself in His eternity;
Was made man, who made man;
Was created by a mother, whom He created;
Was carried by hands that He formed;
Cried in the manger in wordless infancy;
He is the Word, without Whom all human eloquence is mute.

- St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430)

Friday, December 18, 2015

Texting Speed


Driving through the parking garage at work this morning, I was behind someone who was moving at a pace slower than I could push my car. “What’s up with this guy driving like my grandmother?” I wondered. When he parked I saw him heads-down, presumably looking at his mobile device. “That’s it,” I said, “he was driving at texting speed.”

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Good and Evil


Good
The good is the harmony of conduct with right reason and desire that results in happiness. By right reason humans are possessed of the power to give intelligibility to the intelligible - and this not as a matter of self-interest, but because of the intrinsic worth of truth and beauty.

Evil
Evil is a negation of the good, whether as a deficiency or by destroying the good. It is not being, but the privation of being; thus, there is no supreme, independent principle of evil. Ignorance - a deficiency of knowledge - is an evil. Murder - unjustly depriving another of life - is another evil.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Mercy and Truth

The Catholic Church’s pastoral ministry, when it practices mercy, must begin by remedying the poverty of ignorance, by giving souls the expression of the truth that will save them.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Three Duties


Today’s mini-catechism: when Christ appointed St. Peter the first Pope, He endowed the Prince of the Apostles with His own authority to teach, to govern, and to sanctify the faithful; this authority has passed down from Pope to Pope even until our day. Three honorifics assigned the Holy Father indicate this three-fold authority: a Doctor teaches, a Pastor governs, and a Pontiff sanctifies. The customary three-layered Papal Tiara also recalls this unique and unparalleled privilege associated with the Vicar of Christ, whose primary office is to honor God by confirming the brethren in the traditional and eternal Faith.