Prayer—Consistency Matters More Than Method

"In a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it." (1 Cor. 9:24)

When I talk to Catholics about their spirituality, one of the most common complaints I hear is that they are unhappy with their prayer life. It is very rare for me to speak to someone who says, "Why yes, I am happy and fulfilled with my prayer life!" The vast majority of people express disappointment with the quality of their prayers. The complaints are legion—they don't know what to say, prayer feels dry or forced, they can't stay focused, they don't feel like it accomplishes anything, they are bored with the fixed prayers but don't feel eloquent enough for spontaneous prayer, they get tired, don't have time, haven't found a method they like, and so on. When it comes to prayer, nothing seems to be going right for them.

The Worship Compass

I recently did an article featured on the Pelican Brief entitled "The Charismatic-to-Trad Pipeline," which discussed how, for all their differences, traditional Catholics and charismatic Catholics actually have a similarity in their shared belief that worship should be transcendent, which accounts for why so many traditional Catholics are former charismatics. From the article:

Contemplating the Nakedness of Christ

Earlier this month on Pelican Brief, I authored a piece entitled "Why St. Francis Stripped Himself in the Public Square," in which I discuss nakedness in the Franciscan tradition, especially as it relates to humiliation and the contemplation of Christ's nakedness on the cross. Multiple sources on St. Francis's life tell us that the saint was fond of meditating on Christ's nakedness. Francis considered the state of nakedness to be a particularly intimate manner of conforming oneself to Christ, specifically in His humiliation. Bonaventure relates, for example, that Francis's desire to be stripped naked while dying a deliberate means of identifying with our Lord's nakedness on the cross.

In Thy Light We See Light

There is a beautiful passage in the Psalms which says "In thy light do we see light" (Ps. 36:9). 

Light is one of the richest metaphors in the Scriptures, possessing multiple layers of meaning. On the one hand, it is  a powerful symbol for the incomprehensible splendor of God's essence. "God is light," St. John tells us (1 John 1:5), and Paul says "God dwells in unapproachable light" (1 Tim. 6:16). "The Lord God is a sun and shield," says the Psalmist (Ps. 84:11). 

"Be Sober and Watch": Recognizing the Voice of the Evil One

There is truly an ocean of Catholic spiritual literature out there on the subject of learning to recognize the voice of God. As essential as this is, I have found it to be equally important to learn to recognize the voice of the devil.

God is For Us, Not Against Us

When I was young, I was a troubled teen—to some degree, at least. I mean, I don't want to exaggerate. There were others who were vastly more troubled than I and certainly had things a lot worse. I had a stable family, middle class lifestyle, and pretty inconsequntial small town upbringing in the Midwest. Even so, I had problems: I believed a lot of nonsense, developed some pretty foul habits, struggled with depression and loneliness, put many bad substances (and worse ideas) into my body, committed misdeeds, and eventually became nihilistic. I made many poor decisions, the ramifications of which I continue to work out to this day. 

Gratitude: Showing Others the Light by Which We See Providence

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:18). When I first became a Christian, I found this passage so important that I wrote it down on a 3 x 5 notecard and memorized it. Its prescription is universal—it apples "in all circumstances," that is, in every time, place, and situation. If you ever find yourself wondering what you ought to be doing, "give thanks" always applies. To take it even further, St. Paul adds that this is God's will for us. How many people struggle to discern the will of God for their lives! Yet here in Scripture the Apostle tells us plainly that God always wills our gratitude. If you ever doubt what God wants you to be doing in life, at the bare minimum you know that you should be giving thanks.

Book Review: Blosser & Sullivan "Speaking in Tongues" Volume 2

Back in 2023 I reviewed Speaking in Tongues: A Critical Historical Examination by Phil Blosser and Charles Sullivan and published by Pickwick Publications. It was an excellent book and an ecumenical venture of the best kind (Blosser is Catholic and Sullivan a Protestant), tackling the Charismatic subculture within both Protestantism and Catholicism with a detailed study of how the Charismatic conception of tongues developed out of the British Irvingite movement of the 19th century, developing into modern Pentecostalism in the aftermath of the Tongues Missionary Crisis of 1906-1909.

Walter Hilton's Three Degrees of Contemplation

Discussing the spiritual life in terms of degrees or stages has always been popular in Christianity. Whether we consider St. Bernard's twelve degrees of humility, the mystical ascent of St. John of the Cross, or the three conversions spoken of by Garrigou-Lagrange, something about the way we wind our way towards God lends itself to consideration as a process with discernible stages, each with its own unique characteristics and experiences. While the particular stages are as varied as the spiritual writers who discuss them, there seems to be a unanimity that spiritual progress is incremental, "here a little there a little," (cf. Is. 28:10), like ascending rungs on a latter.

Taking My Non-Binary Friend to Tenebrae

Happy Easter, brethren. Christ is risen! May the grace of the risen Lord shine brightly in your life that, in Him, you may enjoy the blessings of His mercy and attain unto life everlasting. Amen.

On Good Friday I attended the Tenebrae service. Instead of going by myself this year, I decided to be evangelistic and invite a non-Catholic friend. I reached out to someone I know who, on paper, would hardly seem interested in such things. I hit up a female acquaintance of mine who is not only non-Catholic, but is openly bi-sexual, practicing polyamorous, non-binary, identifies as they/them, and is deeply ensconsed in what I would call the "blue hair" community. Definitely not the sort of character who would seem interested in the traditional Catholic liturgy. And yet, in my years of knowing her, I had come to recognize her as a very thoughtful person with a deep apprecation for music and a respect for contemplative spirituality, even if outside her own personal experience. I'd say she was in that "spiritual but not religious" category and might be interested in what the Tenebrae had to offer. I messaged her and explained what the Tenebrae was and she responded with enthusiasm and agreed to come along.

Never Describe Heaven to a Child This Way

The Faith can be challenging to explain to kids, especially its more abstract points. Since children do not develop abstract thinking skills until around age 12, it is sometimes a struggle to find explanations that are age appropriate but also theologically sound. We often resort to analogy to make the point for us. The late Fr. Robert J. Fox, for example, had a great analogy for explaining mortal and venial sin that I used with my own children growing up: Fr. Fox would describe the soul as a tomato plant in the garden, then explain that mortal sin was akin to chopping the plant down and killing it, while venial sin was like little insects that gnaw on the stem, leaving the tomato plant intact but weakening the stem, making it more likely to fall. These sorts of analogies are incredibly handy for imparting the Faith to children in a way that helps them understand the substance of a teaching even if the abstract principles are still beyond their grasp. 

The Unconditional Obligation of Forgiveness

If there is one thing that the Gospel makes abundantly clear, it is our obligation to forgive others. Christ warns us plainly in the Sermon on the Mount, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14-15), and "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:37). Christians are to be people who, in the spirit of Christ, "turn the other cheek" (Matt. 5:39), remembering that Christ, even as He was being crucified, called out, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Gratitude: "It Is Good for Us to Be Here"

If you've never watched the lectures of Dr. Iain MacGilchrist on YouTube, do yourself a favor and look him up. I first came across his work in an interview he did with Jordan Peterson, which you can view here (if you have two hours and can deal with Peterson's rabbit-hole brain farts he periodically interjects). Dr. MacGilchrist is a neuroscientist who one of the foremost authorities on brain lateralization (i.e., the hemispheric nature of the brain, the tendency for some neural processes to be specialized to one side of the brain or the other). 

Make Your Devotion Attractive

If you consider yourself a devout Catholic, then your devotion should be the most attractive part of your personality. Like turning on a light, your devotion should radiate over every other aspect of your character, enriching it with warmth and goodness. Whether you work a career or are a full-time parent or spend your days as a volunteer, your piety permeate these activities in such a way that it is attractive to others—in a way that makes others say, "I want what they have."

Two Saints Describe What It's Like Receiving Prophecies

Saints are notoriously humble people. They know that whatever gifts and graces they have come by the goodness of God, not by any merit of their own. They are extraordinarily fearful of their own pride, and consequently do not like to talk about their own mystical or miraculous experiences. Those who do write about them often do so only under obedience. It is thus very mysterious, from a layman's perspective, what it is really like experientially to receive these special charisms from God—what it is like "behind the veil" for those who truly receive prophetic revelations and visions.

A June Miscellany

Greetings friends! My mind has been crowded lately with a lot of different subjects, many of which I will likely never get around to blogging about. So, time to clear my thoughts with a miscellany of half-formed ruminations. I might develop these into future posts, or not...who knows. Enjoy my brain dump!

The Importance of Spiritual Equilibrium

I am becoming increasingly convinced that finding an internal spiritual equilibrium is the supreme difficulty most Catholics face in their spiritual life. By spiritual equilibrium, I mean the ability to balance opposing tendencies while keeping one's peace—balancing knowledge and uncertainty, law and grace, mercy and justice, faith and seeking, suffering and redemption, sin and forgiveness, and so on. A balanced spiritual life requires these apparently contrary ideas to be maintained in a harmonious equilibrium, where nothing is overemphasized and nothing neglected. Virtue consists in finding a mean between extremes, and so does spiritual equilibrium. It requires us to have the faith fully integrated across the various facets of our lives.

The Four Griefs of Wisdom

With much wisdom comes much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow” (Ecc. 1:18). Long have I pondered the meaning of your enigmatic words , O Solomon. Why should the possession of wisdom and knowledge bring me to grief? If, as the Proverbs say, “Wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (Prov. 2:10), then in what sense is knowledge sorrowful? How can its attainment be a source of both delight and distress?

Grace Blossoming Everywhere

For whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in my name, because you belong to Christ: amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. (Mark 9:41)

And there came a certain poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. And calling his disciples together, he saith to them: Amen I say to you, this poor widow hath cast in more than all they who have cast into the treasury. For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want cast in all she had, even her whole living. (Mark 12:42-44)

Do Not Reproach a Man Who is Turning Away from Sin

One of the most unpleasant things I see online is whenever there is a news story about some celebrity who converts to Catholicism, Catholics will make snarky comments about the conversion. They will question the celebrity's sincerity, say it is just a fad, he's doing it for show, we shouldn't be happy about it until we know if it's "real," and in general belittle the story.