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The Christian response to sin is always necessary, but it need not be dire. For even before we turn back to God, he draws near to us, the sinner. And, if we allow him, God can use even our failings and faults to his glory and for our good. Romans 8:28 says that “all things work for good for those who love God,” and St. Thomas says this includes even our sins, for “God makes all things work together for their good to the extent that if they deviate and stray from …

I scrolled through my Facebook feed, one post after another. Photos of friends, pictures of coffee, quotes from famous people. Advertisements.  I stopped. There it was again!  The same ad that I had seen over and over for the past few months. I hardly ever paid attention to the ads on Facebook, except this one. This one. I didn’t even notice the product being advertised, but that didn’t really matter; it was the tagline that got wedged in my brain so firmly that it replaye …

On Ash Wednesday 2004, the eagerly-awaited movie The Passion of the Christ hit movie screens—but hit its viewers much harder. With ashen foreheads, Catholics across America cringed in their theater seats as they watched the portrayal of the intense whipping, beating, and stabbing of their Savior. Many in the audience openly wept as they peered at the screen and saw teams of Roman soldiers thrash Jesus’ body with whips with metal hooks. The scene was violent, portraying the …

It is an almost impossible question: What would you include or exclude if you were creating your own religion? What do you prefer to see in your Church unboxing, as you might prefer in a cosmetics or shoe unboxing? What would you click away from? The word religion necessarily conjures up the idea of a system of beliefs and practices that we do not, indeed cannot, make up. And with rare exceptions among genuine psychopaths or the most ardent ideologues, even people who explicitly eschew est …

As we approach the unapproachable God, we have to pass through his Ten Commandments. We examine our conscience to unearth ways we have said “no” to God. This is a practice that should be done often, certainly weekly, if not daily! To know our sins is not easy and to name them is even more difficult, so it takes constant practice. It also requires the cultivation of humility and self-knowledge to be able not only to say, “I have greatly sinned” but “here is how and …