“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Sun Tzu- The Art […]
Letters To God While sorting through a bin of items from my childhood, I came across several pages of prayer journals. In different phases of my life, I would write my prayers to God in letter form. The letters are written in such familiar language, as though I was writing a letter to a best […]
One of my favorite Gospel stories is where Peter walks on water as it’s a beautiful meeting of the human and divine. In it, we see Peter’s desire to draw near to the Lord and the Lord’s provision for Peter to come to him via a seemingly impossible path. The story provides an example for […]
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The kingdom of God is where God’s will is fully done by us and everyone else. Our goal and God’s goal for us is full unity with Christ. The kingdom of God and our unity with Christ are what we reference when we use […]
At the end of the presentation, the webinar moderator asked me if I had any questions or comments. I replied with something to the effect that: This sounds very similar to a process that monks and other religious have been doing for hundreds of years. It’s called the Liturgy of the Hours. They start the […]
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. [At that] they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be […]
I once had a priest tell me, after I spent a while explaining to him all the concerns I had running through my head as a college senior, that God does not compartmentalize. Every day, every decision that I make, and everything that happens to me in that day, is for a greater purpose. I’ve […]
It has been said that prayer is communication with God, a spiritual give and take session, a holy interchange between Lover and Beloved. Often that experience appears more one-sided on our part. We are prone to speak more than we listen. We may spend more time in prayer asking for what we need than discerning […]
My friend Harry has been around for some time, and over his life he has experienced many different kinds of physical pain. So I was surprised recently when he contacted me after two weeks silence, and told me he had been through the worst pain of his life: “When my knee was crushed, when I […]
People love sound bites. If it’s short, to the point, and appears powerful, people will take that sound bite and share it with others on social media. Recently, I came across one such soundbite, scrolling through Facebook’s newsfeed. My eyes caught a quote (in meme form) by Evangelical author and speaker, Elyse M. Fitzpatrick. She […]
Prayer is one the deepest ways we show our love – to God, to our family, to the world. From childhood, many of us experience religious tradition through prayer in the Mass and in family prayer time. It is one of the staples of being Christian. St. Thérèse of Lisieux believed that prayer was […]
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. For the past five months I’ve been writing about the Beatitudes in order to understand them better. We can hear something hundreds of times without its meaning ever sinking in or becoming knowledge. For a long time the Beatitudes seemed like white noise to me. But […]
For a Christian, prayer is as vital as water is for the body. Like water, prayer quenches the heart’s thirst for God. It allows us to be fulfilled by our deepest longing, which is to know the One who made us. We all have a “God-shaped hole” in our hearts that can only be satisfied […]
Although we do not like to admit it, even to ourselves, we still believe that prayer suddenly happens, or never happens at all. We kid ourselves that saints are born, or created by an arbitrary decision of God who every now and then suddenly decides to top up humanity’s quota. This is a comforting idea […]
I have written before that my spiritual life is owed to Mary. A few years ago, after a long period of lapsed faith, I felt suddenly called to pray the Rosary, which was followed by daily Mass attendance, then Confirmation into the Church, and the rest, as they say, is history. It is impossible for […]
Is a prayer like this Okay? Hanoi Jane Excepted, Ora Pro Nobis My good friend, Captain Ronald Bliss (may he rest in peace now), on his 35th combat mission over North Vietnam in 1966, after his F-105 Thunderchief was shot down, was incarcerated in the Hoa Lo Prison, the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” He was there […]
“This deadly cancer of anger… makes us unlike ourselves, makes us like timber wolves or furies from Hell, drives us forth headlong upon the points of swords, makes us blindly run forth after other men’s destruction as we hasten toward our own ruin.” This quote by St. Thomas More goes a long way to explain […]
There is an autonomous response called “fight or flight” that affects us all at certain points throughout our lives during times of crisis. If we are lucky, the level of stress that causes and accompanies this unique state of being might only happen once or twice, and occur years apart. For others, the urge to […]
Dysfunction Is Everywhere Are you dismayed at times by the amount of dysfunction you run into when dealing with other people? Does it seem to you, as it does to me, that there is far too much pain and anxiety mixed in with occasional spurts of joy and peace that many of us encounter? In […]
“Pray always, but not in order to convince the Lord by dint of words! He knows our needs better than we do! Indeed, persevering prayer is the expression of faith in a God who calls us to fight with him every day and at every moment in order to conquer evil with good.” -Angelus address, […]
My Enemy is My Neighbor: Becoming a Good Samaritan
“Who is my neighbor?” Today, I think, this question is more pertinent than ever. Social media is great at creating the illusion that we’re all in each other’s back pocket. But it comes at the cost of making friendship more of an abstraction, as we make “friends” of people who are little more than an […]
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Sun Tzu- The Art […]
The eternal recurrence In The Gay Science and other works, Nietzsche presents his idea of the eternal recurrence. The demon in Nietzsche’s work poses this question “Do you want this once more and also for innumerable times?” (The Gay Science, 341). According to Nietzsche, most of us would tremble at this question because we do […]
The Catholic Church’s Commitment to Counteracting Racism
As an African-American Catholic, I revel in the opportunity to share that my father, a convert to the Catholic faith, was initially drawn to Catholicism through the witness of President John F. Kennedy Jr., our first – and, to date, only – Catholic president, who contributed to the setting of the civil rights legislation that […]
Let Christ Rip The Rug Up From Under You
When Jesus invites us to die to ourselves, He is not referring to some pious act of self-sacrifice which will make us look or feel holy. No, He has something much more radical in mind. The kind of inner transformation Christ desires will literally rip the rug up from under our feet and shatter our […]
CURRENT RECRUITMENT STATUS: Thank you for your interest in Catholic Stand. At this time, we are accepting inquiries for columnist positions. Please read the guidelines below carefully. Who are we? Catholic Stand, an online publication presenting essays, offering ...read more.
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.