Angelism, confusing man with an angel by denying his likeness to animals, and animalism, confusing man with an animal by denying his likeness to angels.
You will have noticed by this time, of course, that St. Thomas almost always solves a dilemma by making a distinction. That is not a quirk of his personality or even of his method, but a reflection of...
When we use the prayers of the Church, we use the greatest prayers ever written, the words and sentiments of great saints and hymn writers and liturgists. We do this rightly, because God deserves the...
When the worldly toys in which we foolishly place our hopes for happiness are taken away from us, our foolishness is also taken away, and this brings us closer to true happiness, which is not in world...
When I ask my Catholic students what they would say to God if they died tonight and God asked them why He should let them into Heaven, fewer than 5% ever even mention Jesus Christ.
What we do in our parishes and homes contributes to what Christ is doing: preparing the Second Coming. That is the final meaning of our daily work.
What distinguishes the saved from the damned is their relation to Christ. This is not St. Thomas’ opinion, this is Christ’s own clear teaching. What
We are bored with God because our heartsq do not hunger for God, seek God, love God
We all, like Frodo, carry a Quest, a Task: our daily duties. They come us, not from us. We are free only to accept or refuse our task- and, implicitly, our Taskmaster. None of us is a free creator or...
To a humble mind nothing is more astonishing than to hear its own excellence.
Third, it can mean deep, wondering reverence, or awe at something immeasurably superior. This is an emotion that is much rarer today than ever before in the history of the world, probably because mode...
There—fore what is contrary to human nature is contrary to God’s will.
The soul is the form of the body and the body is the matter of the soul, somewhat as the meaning of a book is its form or soul and the words are its matter or body.
The root reason for this is the denial of the human essence, the human equality, the human family—judging people’s worth only by how efficiently or intelligently or quickly they function. This is conf...
The more consciously and freely we choose an evil, the more responsible we are for it and the more guilty we are of it; this is why spiritual sins like pride are greater in guilt than carnal sins.
The medievals loved to say that God wrote two books: nature and Scripture. And since he is the author of both books, and since this Teacher never contradicts himself, these two books never contradict...
The idea of resolving conflicts by killing people (which is what war is) is not a just thing, a just idea. In that sense there is no such thing as just war. But to wage a given war may be a just actio...
The good Jew, like the good Christian, sees behind the law to the Lawgiver, whose will is perfect love.
The fifties were far from utopia, but we all know they were significantly happier than today. At this point someone will respond by quoting the ultimate law of life: Ah, but you can't turn back the cl...
The difference between a counsel and a commandment is that a commandment implies obligation, whereas a counsel is left to the option of the one to whom it is given.