Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
Spirituality
Spirituality
Heed the Artists’ Warnings in the Machine Age
When ChatGPT first hit mainstream markets in 2022, it was the artists who began warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence. There is something about artists—whether painter, sculptor, graphic designer, iconographer, poet, writer, photographer, and others—being more in tune with reality at...
Spirituality
The World We Long For No Longer Exists
A couple years ago I bought a manual typewriter. I was in a slump in my writing and seeking some kind of creative, esoteric reboot, I suppose. There were things I wanted to write that I didn’t necessarily want online, or on the nebulous Cloud, or even on a hard drive, and so I thought perhaps going...
Spirituality
Sending the Flawed to Build the Eternal Kingdom: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples on a missionary journey, granting them significant spiritual authority. Wasn’t that risky? Gospel (Read Lk. 10:1-12, 17-20) As Jesus traveled to Jerusalem from Galilee for the last time, St. Luke tells us He commissioned seventy-two disciples “whom He sent ahea...
Spirituality
America 250: The Most Patriotic College in the United States
In the mountain-town of Emmitsburg, Maryland, there is a historic school unfamiliar to most Americans. Its founding in 1808 is a direct consequence of 1776. Its founder, Fr. John Dubois, was mentored by James Monroe and Patrick Henry to unleash a new birth of freedom in a country weary from a long t...
Spirituality
The Fourth of July and Divine Providence
On July 4, 1776, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence. Both had worked hard together in producing it. Subsequently, Adams became the second American president while Jefferson followed him as the young country’s third. Both had a high regard for the Bible. “It is the...
Spirituality
Resentment as a Prison of the Soul: A Reflection Inspired by Mother Teresa and Irene Villa
The phrase attributed to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “The worst feeling: resentment,” offers a profound reflection on the human condition and the way emotions shape the course of our lives. While there are painful feelings such as sadness, fear, frustration, and loneliness, resentment has a distincti...
Spirituality
None Greater Than John the Baptist
Since my mother’s womb, you have been my strength. (Ps. 71:6) Today, the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, one of just three liturgical birthday celebrations, along with that of Jesus and Mary. According to pious Christian speculation, John was born (though not conceived) without orig...
Spirituality
Baptized Into His Death: The Ruthless War of the Soldiers for Christ
Fear no one. That was Christ’s command to the Twelve after He told them they were going to be flogged in synagogues and dragged before governors and kings. That would be the fate of the Twelve, Christ’s hand-picked confidants, His band of brothers. Band of Brothers was a highly acclaimed miniseries...
Spirituality
Christianity and the Decline of Pagan Cults in Late Antiquity, Part 1
This two-part article examines how Christianity gradually displaced paganism and idol worship throughout Europe from late antiquity into the early Medieval period. Part 1 of this article describes the religious landscape of the pre‑Christian world and discusses the formation of a distinct Christian...
Spirituality
Constant Online Theological Debates Are Turning Young Women Away
I was ministering to a young woman recently who confirmed something for me that I’d been hearing about in different circles. She said young women are having a hard time in young adult groups because they are filled predominately with young men who want to argue religion and politics incessantly. Fue...
Spirituality
Chara: The Vanguard of the Church
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! (Phil. 4:4) You can sense it almost everywhere now. The exhaustion and misery of a civilization that has forgotten how to hope. Watching the news, scrolling through social media, or checking in on X to see what’s going on in the world is an...
Spirituality
Christ’s Hard Lessons in Discipleship: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus gives the Twelve lessons in discipleship, both its costs and its blessings. Gospel (Read Mt. 10:37-42) In verses preceding this reading, Jesus perhaps startled His disciples with this warning: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to...