When we reflect on the fact that Jesus deliberately chose Judas as one of the twelve knowing that he would betray him, and that Judas freely chose his own opposing path, we encounter the mystery of the call of God to humanity and its struggle with the exercise of human freedom.
Jesus Christ
Wounded Human Nature is a “Strange Nature”
Wounded human nature is a “strange nature” wherein the false is sometimes embraced for its perceived comfort, nourished for fear of the pain one might incur in curing it, and upheld on the shaky principle of rigid stubbornness.
Third Sunday of Lent: Repentance In The Desert
It is important to understand that sin and God’s holiness are incompatible. There is a radical conflict between the total and infinite purity, goodness, perfection and holiness of God, and the horrid, empty, constrictive and dark nature of sin. Every sin is an attack against God, his purity, holiness and truth. At the heart of sin is always a disordered self-love, a pride which seeks to suppress the truth about God and supplant the Creator with the creature.
Spiritual But Not Religious?
Everyone searches. Not everyone knows why; not everyone understands what to look for; not everyone recognizes who they seek. Some are on a spiritual quest for the divine and they know it; others do not. Some fail to discern who alone is capable of satiating their thirst and thus wrongly seek to quench it with creatures, poisons and pain. Still others are indifferent to the search itself; so long as they feel satisfied along the way, they remain blindly convinced of progress. Nevertheless, everyone searches.
Jubilee Year of Mercy: Be Mindful of the Reality of Hell
In order to avail ourselves of God’s forgiveness in this Jubilee Year of Mercy, our gaze must first turn to the source of mercy: Jesus Christ whose suffering and death provide the means of salvation for fallen humanity