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Catholics Love Suffering
Today, I thought I’d speak about something pleasant for a change: suffering. (Do you see what I did there?) I’m told that, as Catholics, we love suffering. This is certainly true, at least on the surface. We have a kind of morbid fascination with it, and the idea of redemptive suffering has deep roots in…
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Pardon and Peace
In keeping with the past few weeks and the theme of “perpetual conversion”, tonight I’m going to talk to you about the power of confession, and why it’s my favourite sacrament. Rest assured: I’m not here to judge. Like the Pauls who came before me, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom…
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Vincent
Recently I had the pleasure of seeing Lasting Impressions, which featured the works of some of humanity’s greatest artists, recreated with a brilliant 3D and “motion-sculpting technology” that not only adds depth to the artwork but also brings it to life. I’ll confess that while the first half left much to be desired, the remainder…
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There and Back Again
I left home for the first time when I was eighteen years old. I was quite excited about it. Not that I didn’t like my home, but I was never too fond of my hometown. It was small. It never felt like much of anything, and I can remember dreaming of the city, which I…
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Why I Write (Further Thoughts)
Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness. … Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words. Rainer Maria Rilke Why do you imagine that I write? Out…
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Why I Write
George Orwell, who is one of my favourite writers, once wrote an essay entitled “Why I Write”. Having committed myself to the same craft for a year now, I thought it’s time I did the same. Over this past year, I’ve done my best—regardless of whatever has been keeping me busy in my day to…
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“Everyday, I must become…”
To love is good, too: love being difficult. For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. For this reason young people, who are beginners in everything, cannot yet know…
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“Why, Mr Anderson? Why?”
If you’re a bit of a nerd like me, then you’d know that at the end of the Matrix trilogy, our protagonist fights a losing battle against his enemy, Agent Smith. He keeps getting knocked, beat, and thrown around Matrix-style, but after he is dealt a devastating blow, Smith questions Neo’s resolve to keep fighting.…
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“Where were you…?”
One of the benefits of my MDiv program is the pastoral formation. I chose it precisely for this reason. I’d studied philosophy for four years, and at one point, we even talked about whether a thing such as a chair exists or if what exists is just the atoms that make it up. (My answer:…
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