 Gratitude opens us up to a sense of wonder. Gratitude opens us up to beauty, goodness, and truth. Gratitude opens us up to love, and to Love. Gratitude opens up the sluice gate so that God’s grace can flow, and overflow, into our hearts, our minds, and our lives. And the more God’s grace flows into us, the more it can flow through us and outward into the lives of other people as well.
You can read the entire article at www.wordonfire.org/articles/gratitude-opens-us-to-the-flow-of-grace/.
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 Roger Scruton, in his personal history of the Church of England, makes the thought-provoking claim that when John Calvin removed the sacrament of Penance from his “reformed” list of sacraments, “he made the first and fatal step towards the de-Christianization of the world.”
This article can be found at www.wordonfire.org/articles/the-demotion-of-penance-a-fateful-step-toward-de-christianization/?queryID=2bcf1d02417a6de17b1cdc02e40b5734.  One of the images of the Christian life that St. Augustine used was an upside-down fruit tree. This tree has its roots in heaven and grows with its leaves and branches hanging down toward the earth, and its fruit is available for the benefit of any and all. Each of us is called to be this upside-down fruit tree. Each of us is called to bear fruit for the kingdom of God and for the benefit of our fellow human beings.
You can read the entire article at www.wordonfire.org/articles/st-augustines-upside-down-fruit-tree/.  As Christians, we are called—not to hate the person who does wrong—but to hate the wrong itself.
You can read this article at www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/09/06/there-is-a-time-and-place-for-hate/  Society is a trust among the dead, the living, and the unborn members of that society, in which the living members of the society are trustees who have an obligation to conserve and enhance the benefits they have inherited from their forebears (which include the social institutions and traditions established by previous generations and their accumulated knowledge and wisdom) and also to pass those benefits on to succeeding generations.
You can read the full article at www.wordonfire.org/articles/the-vision-of-society-as-a-trust/.  Jesus assigns each of us a unique mission of love within his universal mission of love. Our mission may not be what we would have chosen for ourselves if it were left entirely up to our own self-centered will, but it is the mission that will enable us to become the loving person God created us to be.
You can read this article at www.wordonfire.org/articles/leave-the-world-a-better-place-and-a-better-person/.  Escaping limitations imposed on us by the existence of objective truth appears as infinite freedom but turns out to be a "bad infinity."
This article can be read at www.wordonfire.org/articles/bad-infinity-good-infinity-and-the-truth/  "May we live long and die out”—this is the motto of the “Voluntary Human Extinction Movement” (VHEMT). This movement exhorts people to make a voluntary choice not to reproduce (or not to give birth to any more children, if they already have children), with the stated goal of bringing about the eventual extinction of the human race. Instead of “Be fruitful and multiply” this group’s message to the human race is “Be sterile and subtract.” But wouldn’t it be better to give future generations of human beings the chance to live and love, even if this earthly life sometimes also involves loss and suffering?
This article can be read at www.wordonfire.org/articles/be-sterile-and-subtract/  Action aimed at evangelization, social justice, etc. is a good thing, but action aimed at such goals that is also deeply rooted in prayer, in a profoundly contemplative life, is a much better thing. When we take time to “rest in God,” God’s Spirit, God’s dynamic power and love, can then flow more freely through our actions, making those actions more effective and impactful. The more our lives are rooted in the divine love, the more that divine love can flow through us and out into the world.
This article can be read at www.wordonfire.org/articles/systole-and-diastole-action-and-contemplation/?queryID=10f70ae2286fa1e5f36a56841406a61f Photo by Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash  Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-88) is considered by many to be the greatest theologian of the twentieth century. He is said to have been Saint John Paul II’s favorite theologian, and he was one of Pope Benedict XVI’s favorite theologians as well. People who are interested in learning about Balthasar's theology sometimes ask me where would be a good place to start, since Balthasar wrote over a hundred books. In this article, I recommend some possible starting points, including my personal favorite among all of Balthasar's works.
"Approaching Balthasar" can be read at www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/04/14/approaching-balthasar/ |
Rick Clements, Ph.D.
Rick writes and speaks about topics related to the Catholic faith, with a particular focus on the ways in which a rediscovery of beauty, goodness, and truth can help to revitalize our lives and our culture. 
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