The Life of Virtue

A young, indie-pop band called Ocean Park Standoff has recently released a hit single entitled “Good News.”  With catchy beats and lyrics, the song draws in its listeners from the opening notes.  Still, there is a greater value to this song than its potential to climb music charts. About the motivation for writing the song, one of the band members remarks, "It was about our daily lives and breakups and work issues and the fact that everything coming at us from the outside world was like, 'It's only getting worse!' because that's what sells."  Indeed, the human heart cries out for good news in the midst of the mundane and in the midst of suffering.  The answer, however, does not lie in what we can do for ourselves, in the power or positive thinking.  This song should remind all of us that we need more than that.  This song is a cry for a deeper relationship with the Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Many of the lyrics point the listener in ...

The scriptures tell us that the Lord is "rich in mercy" (Eph. 2:4).  This is quite true, simply because of who God is.  Still, it is possible to thwart God from extending as much mercy as He desires.  That is why Lent makes and excellent opportunity to begin, or to redouble, efforts to turn and transform.  Without a doubt, God will lavish His mercy upon us for forty days and beyond if we try to turn our hearts, minds, and voices toward Him. The Mass readings for the Third Week of Lent make this point abundantly clear.  From the moment of the Collect for Sunday Mass , anyone who listens or reads learns quickly that we must assume a posture of lowliness and humility in order for the Lord to lift us up.  Yet, because of our sinfulness, we continually refuse to assume such attitudes, and thus we cut ourselves off from mercy. There are several readings throughout the week in which we glimpse poor examples of hearts, minds, and voices turned toward the Lord. ...

Chapter 17 of Acts of the Apostles refers to the men "who have turned the world upside down..." (v. 6).  Upon reviewing the details of this chapter, a reader is able to understand some of the most important and enduring characteristics of men who turn the world on its head.  Examining the details of the chapter and the characteristics of such a man brings the reader to one simple conclusion.  The man who turns the world upside down is none other than the man of virtue. In order to create shift of focus and momentum, it is first necessary to know the current direction of focus and momentum.  Acts 17 reveals this point when it notes that St. Paul met with Jews, Epicureans, and Stoics in first-century Athens.  The Apostle was familiar with the variant ideas of his day, and he was able to speak to each of them in some detail.  Because of his extraordinary erudition, Paul managed to win converts from among the Jews and Gentiles in that community.  Yet, h...

"For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator."  So states the fifth verse of the thirteenth chapter of the book of Wisdom in the Old Testament.  The author of this sentence, and the sentences that precede it in the chapter, wants to remind his audience that the grandeur of natural creation is supposed to elicit thoughts and awareness of the One who has created.  That grandeur, however, ought not to be deified.  How much better is the Lord, he exclaims, "the author of beauty" ( Wisdom 13:3 )! Blowing Rock, NC Photo Credit: Wife Family and I were blessed to experience this for ourselves during the past weekend.  We took a day-long pilgrimage to a nearby mountain range to gaze upon ancient and rugged peaks, see autumn foliage that is perhaps unparalleled on earth, and share each other's company.  There is no doubt in my mind that we were successful on all three accounts.  And, there is ...

As I've been reading, teaching, and praying over the past few days, a basic theme of God's revelation has come into my consciousness again and again.  This significant part of God's plan for humanity has always been true, it has never been negated, and I can recite it as a truth in the same way that I might recite multiplication tables.  I am quite sure, however, that God has brought this reality into my line of sight more frequently recently because He knows that I have yet to perfect it as He intends for me.  The simple truth is that love of God is inseparable from love of neighbor.  Neither of these is attained fully without the other. It is always true that love of God leads directly to love of neighbor; it leads in no other direction.  Two passages of Sacred Scripture have reiterated this to me in recent days.  The first of these is from the book of Deuteronomy.  As the Israelites wander in the desert, nearing the end of their forty-year communa...

There are two, and only two, things that must increase within each of us throughout our lives.  Those two things are knowledge of truth and charity.  Knowledge and love are the most powerful faculties of every human person.  Without growing in one or both, any individual person will not develop fully as he is intended to do so.  Nothing is more important than these and, in fact, all good things in our lives flow directly from one or both of them. As I prayed over Scripture last week, and prepared for a lecture on truth and charity, an amazing connection occurred to me.  In John 8:32, while speaking to an audience of Jews, Jesus remarks, "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  Whatever is found to be truth (not just truthful, but truth itself) clearly effects liberation of the person who seeks it.  So, finding truth leads to freedom. Later, Jesus clarifies the object of the search for truth, the reality that seekers must...