It all started with a text from my sister. I had just gotten off work and walked out to my car. There, waiting on my phone, was the news that my mom hadn’t shown up for work that morning, that …
Category: The Last Things
My Dying Wish: Don’t Canonize Me at the Funeral
I’m not planning on dying any time soon. I’m nearly 53 years old, and life expectancy statistics tell me that I have at least another 20 to 25 years left on this Earth. And research shows that people of faith …
On the Rhythm of Life: A Meditation for the End of the Year
There is a rhythm to life, to the seasons of the year, to the day, from its dawning to its close, to the history of the world. There is a rhythm to the liturgy of the Church, and there is …
A Reflection on the Glory of Paradise
We conclude our series on the Four Last Things. Read the first three parts on death, judgment, and the fires of Hell. St. Benedict sums up the spiritual necessity of the Four Last Things in his chapter “What Are the …
Even Hell Points to God’s Mercy
We continue our series on the Four Last Things. See the first two parts on death and judgment. Hell Is Proof of Man’s Exalted Dignity The Offertory prayers speak of how God “wondrously endowed dignity to human nature” [1]. The …
On Advent, Suffering, and Sandy Hook
On my daughter’s birthday, it is always dark when I wake up. I hear her feet, tiny and soft, outside the bedroom door. I know it is she, and not our son, because I can tell her footsteps from his, even …
Fear of Judgment Is the Way of the Saints
Read the Gospels. You will see a constant theme of our Lord’s preaching: the Four Last Things. Last week, we covered death. Now we take up the subject of judgment. The Imitation: To many the saying, “Deny thyself, take up …
The World Fears Death, but Catholics Must Remember It
There is perhaps no truth today more shunned, suppressed, and vehemently ignored than the reality of death. The modern man is consumed with indulging his slavery to his passions, proclaiming himself free, and absolutely banishing the thought that he will …
Gratitude: The Safeguard of Humility
One of the two soldiers who had to lead him caused him all possible sufferings. He was forced to make long marches, was exposed to the rays of the sun, to the rains and the cold of the nights. His …
We Share in the Suffering of the Poor Souls in Purgatory
The foundation of our love and devotion for the poor souls in purgatory is this: “If one member suffer any thing, all the members suffer with it; or if one member glory, all the members rejoice with it” (I Cor. …