This is what the Law is all about, right??? I am always surprised at how most people, and probably most Christians, think of God's Commandments and of all morality as arbitrary. This is why they think "gay marriage" can exist. We moderns think all law is man made, all rules and regulations are simply pulled out [...]
The New Testament contains two Epistles by St. Peter. A third one was recently discovered, but some are doubting its authenticity. It appears to have been written during Jesus active ministry ... *** Peter, Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the Other Eleven and to Various Disciples. May God bless you all. I give thanks always and [...]
My friend Joe Grabowski sends along another example in my Anonymous Saints series. This is the story of a 99-year old woman who makes a new dress every day and donates it to a needy child in Africa. Now, I can't help but think that my son, Colin O'Brien, who is an exact clone of me, [...]
She was one of the presenters at a "Journey of Faith" class that my wife and I were taking, back when we were looking into becoming Episcopalians. She told the following story. When my friends Amy and Bob got married, I made a tapestry for them that had their names "Amy and Bob" on it, in [...]
We are not saved by a system. We are not saved by a program. We are not saved by a gimmick. We are saved by a person. And by His death, which was the most personal gift He could give. This is why heart must speak to heart (as I wrote, quoting Bl. John Henry Newman, [...]
Canon Ueda (who has been giving Private Instruction to my actor Dave, a recent convert to the Catholic Faith) told Dave this morning that it was not enough to go to Sunday Mass at St. Francis de Sales Oratory in South St. Louis, where Dave has been going. He had to start going to Coffee and [...]
Mark Shea has written a third installment in his series on the connection between Drama and Religion, which you can find at Catholic World Report. Since I've written about this topic myself (mostly from the point of view of actors, or the analogy between Acting and the Faith), I thought I'd add a few things to [...]
In fact, here's the cake in Ferguson, Missouri that Karen and I photographed in June. It's in the revived downtown, which is filled with local shops, black and white owners, a charming area. The cake is to the right, above the bench. The situation in Ferguson is complex, and I'll add what I can as a [...]
In Flannery O'Connor's short stories, the grace of God is shown to operate in shocking and disturbing ways. For Flannery, the door to salvation opens the moment our own selfish walls are cracked (usually violently), allowing God's grace to rush in - along with horror and remorse, which are aspects of Awe and of the Fear [...]
I have been on the road with my actress Maria and her husband for a while now. We are ending up a tour of nine shows in ten days in four states. Today we find ourselves in a small town in Minnesota off the interstate. We made the mistake of going to Sunday Mass, as we [...]
