Critical Mass

Evaluate this statement:  ”God hates a coward.”
Background:  A friend of mine came to me with a question regarding a statement made in one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when Almanzo was debating about whether to risk ten miles each way in forty-below to bring Laura back to her parents’ for the weekend. He’s looking [...]

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From the Liturgy of the Hours, text courtesy of Universalis
Reading: A sermon of Pope St. Gregory the Great
The word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature
You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be [...]

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From Opus Sanctorum Angelorum — Crusade for Priests
The answer is not a particular prayer or even a particular form of prayer, but rather, “pray frequently for priests and offer a variety of your good works for their sanctification”. Here are some suggestions that may help make your prayers more effective.
1. ‘Adopt’ or pray for a [...]

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From Doing Theology, by Jared Wicks, SJ:
[Origen's interpretation of the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:30-35.]
The man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho is humankind expelled from paradise, who is beset by evil spirits who strip him of heavenly grace and inflict dire wounds on him. But the Samaritan who came down [...]

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The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
I am very excited to get my new book! :) Which, of course, just proves how much of a Catholidork I am. :)

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From the Office of Readings for today:
St. John Chrysostom on the Temptations of the Devil (from Universalis)
Shall I list the paths of repentance? There are certainly many of them, many and various, and all of them lead to heaven.
The first path is the path of condemnation of sins. As Isaiah says, Tell your [...]

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Snippets that I like from “The Lord,” by Romano Guardini.
Some of the uniqueness of the Sermon on the Mount includes:
1. The energy with which it insists upon progression from the outer, specific act of virtue to the inner, all-permeating state of virtue.
2. Its demand that the degree of identification-of-self-with-neighbor be the sole measure [...]

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Hideously stolen from the OLGC bulletin, but I likes it! :)
Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest that continues the work of redemption on earth…. What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open [...]

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H/T to Steve, who originally sent this to me:
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boat, and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus (Jn 6:24).
A generation ago, Karl Rahner made the statement that there would soon come a time when each of us will [...]

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The other Jennie does it on Friday. So I’m a little late. What else is new? :)
1. Broken McSickyPants
This is my new name. My medical issues have only gotten worse. I still have the continual chest pain (which has now become more pronounced) and dyspnea on exertion. Lately, [...]

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