Notes on faith, love, and hope
St. Paul seems to have defined the triad we know today as the theological virtues: faith, hope, and love.
Musings on dignity and profane language
Profane and profanity are English words commonly used in reference to swearing, cursing, and hurling abusive language at someone. That’s an intriguing development from their Latin roots! A fanum is a temple or a sanctuary; attach the preposition pro to it, and you get “before/in front of/ outside the temple.”
Language that is not fitting to be heard in the presence of the divine, therefore, is unholy, not sacred: literally, profane.
Adoration always personal and communal
The current Eucharistic Revival in the United States is generating a discussion of the role of Eucharistic Adoration in the life of the Church.
The privilege of being a priest
And yet the sacramental gift remains a gift. Every priest stores within his heart unspeakable sadness and massive joy, uncertainty in meeting needs and gratitude for the aid of the Holy Spirit.
The incarnational principle and Good Friday
Over two millennia of Church history, several standards of orthodoxy have served as the pillars on which a correct understanding of the Christian mysteries must be built.
Happiness as the blessed life
If you ask most people (other than Father Roch) “Do you want to be happy?”, they will likely answer “Yes!” without much hesitation. If you ask them “What is happiness?”, you are likely to get a splendid variety of secular and sacred answers: “Being at peace…getting or doing what I want…living freely…finding meaning in my life…a feeling of bliss…retiring when I want to…sweet vengeance on my enemy…union with God in prayer”. If you ask them, “Why should you be happy?”, they might look confused for a moment…and that moment could yield a fruitful reflection on the depths within oneself.