Scripture Studies for Catholics

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Mark Shea has a wonderful new article on Catholic Exchange about Catholics and their study of Sacred Scripture.  As a novice Scripture scholar myself, I find his thoughts affirmative and informative.  Thanks, Mark!

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Learning Virtue from St. Martin de Porres

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[This post appeared originally on my full site, which is now no longer in operation, in November 2012.] It seems that more should be written about a saint from whom we can learn so many lessons in virtue.  Yet that is not the case with St. Martin de Porres, from whom we have much to learn about humility, detachment, fasting, justice, and charity.  The website of the St. Martin de Porres Shrine and Institute (located in my own diocese; a wonderful initiative with a beautiful chapel) offers a mere four paragraphs of biographical information, while other sites ( here , here , and here ) devote no more than 10 sentences to this exemplar of heroic virtue.  Surely, Brother Martin, who was so humble in this life, finds that to be a fitting scenario even after his death. From the very earliest days of his life, he embraced his lowly situation.  He desired to do nothing more than glorify the Creator by serving creatures.  He reached out to slaves, orphan...
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Reflections on the Sunday Readings

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Yesterday marked the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time; and the Responsorial Psalm had a huge impact on me.  The following are my reflections. Many times in our lives, we are tempted to scream out in want or need, “O Lord, save my life!”  We may even be tempted to do that when the thing or result we desire is not what’s truly best for us.  See, God is not a crutch; and He’s not a person to whom we talk only when we want or need something. God wants to save our lives (indeed, He has already provided that opportunity), but salvation only comes when we are ready to conform our ways to His ways.  To “call upon the name of the Lord” in distress and sorrow alone won’t provide what we’re looking for.  God is less like a divine candy store (a place to get something that makes you feel good for a short period of time) and more like a divine fitness center (a place that bears results after long periods of hard work and personal transformation). God bless!
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Poverty for the Sake of Presence

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In my most recent post, I mentioned that my life includes any number of things that continue to cause anxiety for me on a regular basis.  In the ensuing two weeks, my Lord has seen fit to provide wonderful and freeing perspective, particularly through a spiritual direction session and through the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales.  Therefore, this post is something of a rebuttal to that part of the previous post by way of this new and fresh (at least for me) perspective. The modern world in which we live celebrates wealth without any inhibition.  The idea is that everyone has an inalienable right to accumulate dollars and possessions without limit or end.  Efforts to eradicate economic poverty are, at base, attempts to bring more people into this ever-increasing cycle of production and profit.  The world scoffs at poverty, and the prevailing culture proposes a glamorous solution, but one that is, ultimately, bereft of real value. Throug...
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