The coronavirus crisis is turning our lives upside down. The shutdown’s economic impact will be extremely severe. However, we should hope for a profound religious turnaround as we struggle to find meaning in the events around us. Much of the media seeks to reduce the crisis to natural causes. Its apocalyptic character, though, thrusts us … Read more
“Send down the dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One: let the earth be opened, and bud forth the Redeemer.” Thus begins the Advent hymn, “Rorate Caeli,” that mournfully calls upon God to hear our prayers. We are made to sigh with longings, as the Fathers of old, asking … Read more
If there is an image that describes our postmodern world, it is the Prodigal Son. Everyone has heard of this Gospel parable where the son of a rich man takes his inheritance and goes to the city and squanders it. When he runs out of money and famine comes upon the land, he becomes a … Read more
The late-nineteenth-century conversion story, En Route, by J. K. Huysmans is a book that penetrates deeply into the mind of the reader. It is an autobiographical yet fictional account of the return journey to the Church of a famous French art critic and novelist in decadent Paris. The book has weathered well the ravages of … Read more
The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most memorable and moving of all Our Lord Jesus Christ’s parables. Many who cannot name all Ten Commandments can nevertheless give a rough outline of the story. It has been widely represented in Christian art since the Middle Ages, and even today is often referenced … Read more
