A deep, terrifying darkness enveloped Abraham. (Genesis 15:12) The Lord had called Abraham to come to the Promised Land. God instituted a covenant with Abraham. He made promises to Abraham. Then the Lord enveloped Abraham in a “deep, terrifying darkness.” Many centuries later, the Lord Himself walked the earth. He took His closest Apostles up [...]
Archive for February, 2010
You my Glance Seeks (Psalm 27)
Posted in Homilies, tagged Abraham, coffin, covenant, darkness, Devil, fasting, Holy Face, Lent, light, Lord Jesus Christ, Mount Tabor, Penance, Satan, temptation, Ten Commandments, Transfiguration on February 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Pro-Life, Pro-Woman Quote of the Day
Posted in Morals/Decision-Making, Pro-Life, tagged artificial contraception, Gandhi, woman on February 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It is an insult to the fair sex to put up her case in support of birth-control by artificial methods. As it is, man has sufficiently degraded her for his lust, and artificial methods, no matter how well-meaning the advocates may be, will still further degrade her. I urge the advocates of artificial methods to [...]
Humiliating Limits
Posted in Prayer, tagged fasting, Lent, weakness on February 25, 2010 | 2 Comments »
In the original Lent, the Lord Jesus fasted to the limits of human weakness. He was desperately hungry, utterly exhausted. Although He is a divine Person, He relied on angels to give Him strength in His body. Lent is our opportunity to explore the same depths of weakness. The smallness and debility of our human [...]
Angelic Etching
Posted in Books, Magazines, Movies, Music, etc., Rome, Saints, tagged Adrien Mastrangelo, art, etching, Mestrovic, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, St Jerome, St. Thomas Aquinas, statue on February 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I am a man of classical artistic tastes. My favorite image of St. Thomas Aquinas is the fresco by Filippino Lippi in the Carafa Chapel in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minverva in Rome. Nonetheless, I have a new second-favorite image of St. Thomas: The sweet etching by Adrien Mastrangelo, above. It reminds me [...]
Instructions for Lent
Posted in Books, Magazines, Movies, Music, etc., Homilies, tagged Abraham, Aramean, Baby Ruth, basket, Blessed Sacrament, Charleton Heston, collection, covenant, cover, Deuteronomy, faith, Holy Baptism, Holy Mass, Isaac, Israel, Jacob, Lent, Lord Jesus Christ, Mary J. Blige, Messiah, Moses, offering, One, patriarchs, Red Sea, Redemption, salvation, sin, twelve tribes, U2 on February 20, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Pretty cool cover of a lovely song: One Mary J. Blige and U2 Here is a homily for the First Sunday of Lent: In the original Lent, the Lord Jesus spent forty days praying and fasting in solitude. The devil came to tempt Him. Christ rebuffed the devil by quoting Scripture three times. 1. “Man [...]
Double McTwist 1260
Posted in Sports, tagged Antawn Jamison, basketball, Caron Butler, DeShaun Stephenson, Georgetown Hoyas, gold medal, Olympics, Shaun White, snowboarding, traded, USA, winter, Wizards on February 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Check out American gold-medalist Shaun White: …Nine days with the sailboat cufflinks. Still a long way from 70 degrees… …What can we say about the Wizards? All our old homeboys are gone now. We need a fresh start of course, but this is extreme… …Perhaps you recall that on the Feast of the Conversion of [...]
More of Holy Father’s Message…
Posted in Rome, tagged Ash Wednesday, gift, justice, Lent, original sin, Pope Benedict XVI, pride humility, Redemption, salvation on February 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
We can detect…a permanent temptation within man: to situate the origin of evil in an exterior cause. Many modern ideologies deep down have this presupposition: since injustice comes “from outside,” in order for justice to reign, it is sufficient to remove the exterior causes… This way of thinking – Jesus warns – is…shortsighted. Injustice, the [...]
The Food of Truth
Posted in Prayer, tagged abstinence, Ash Wednesday, Bl. Columba Marmion, fast, Holy Baptism, Lent, temptation on February 16, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God. (Pope Benedict XVI, Message for Lent) Tomorrow we begin our little forty-day journey to Easter. Lent is our chance to re-initiate ourselves as Christians. We started off well, when we emerged from the baptismal font. But time takes a toll. We [...]
From the Whirlwind
Posted in Arguments for the faith, Priesthood, Sports, tagged Georgetown Hoyas, Job, Michael Farina, monsignor, St. Patrick, winter on February 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Strange, strange winter. Who can make sense of it? The Hoyas whup Duke and Villanova. Meanwhile, they manage to lose to South Florida and Rutgers. (?!?) But before we start second-guessing Providence (Almighty God, that is–not Providence College), let’s remember the Lord’s words to Job: Brace yourself like a fighter. Now it is my turn [...]
Be Mine
Posted in Love Letters to You, Priesthood, tagged Amazon, book club, card, Hallmark, Kindle, Speed Bump, store, Valentine, Valentine's Day on February 12, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Listen: I know you love me. I know you are thinking of me. I know you are sweet on me. But before you run out to the Hallmark store– Before you scour the aisles trying and find an appropriate card for your beloved blogging priest… I just want to show you my favorite Valentine that [...]

