 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/
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 Love enables us to see the good more clearly: in other people, in ourselves, and in life itself.
This article can be read at blog.catholicwritersguild.com/2024/01/where-love-is-there-is-the-eye.html. "Where Love Is, There Is the Eye" is an excerpt from my latest book, The Book of Love: Brief Meditations (www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVSXX6P9/).  Arguments in favor of abortion have undergone an evolution that parallels an evolution that took place in arguments favoring slavery.
This article can be read at www.wordonfire.org/articles/abortion-slavery-and-the-image-of-god/.  Everyone needs at least one person in their lives who can honestly say to them, “How good that you exist!”
This article can be read at blog.catholicwritersguild.com/2023/12/how-good-that-you-exist.html "How Good That You Exist" is an excerpt from my latest book, The Book of Love: Brief Meditations (www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVSXX6P9/).  Over a period of only three decades, abortion advocacy has evolved (or, better said, devolved) from treating abortion as a “necessary evil” (recall Bill Clinton’s self-proclaimed goal in the 1990s of protecting abortion “rights” while supposedly making abortions “safe, legal, and rare”), to promoting abortion as a positive good to be sought even in violation of the law (e.g., “Shout Your Abortion,” an organization whose website currently states: “Shout Your Abortion is normalizing abortion and elevating safe paths to access, regardless of legality”), to claiming that abortion is not only a positive good, but can also be sacred and holy ( “Holy Abortion”).
This article can be read at www.wordonfire.org/articles/calling-evil-sacred/.  Like Jesus, we are called to “break ourselves open and pour ourselves out” in love for our fellow human beings, becoming “food” and “drink” for them as they make their way through their own journey to Love.
This article can be read at blog.catholicwritersguild.com/2023/11/food-for-the-journey.html. "Food for the Journey" is an excerpt from my latest book, The Book of Love: Brief Meditations (www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVSXX6P9/). Photo by Morgan Winston on Unsplash  We all face a fundamental choice in life: Am I going to live primarily for myself, or am I going to live primarily for others (e.g., for God, for my spouse, for my children, for my friends, for my church, for my community, for my country, for the common good of humanity, etc.)? The choice each of us makes here will determine not only the basic tone and quality of our everyday lives, but also our ultimate destiny: whether we will find our “true selves” and attain deep and lasting happiness.
This article can be read at www.wordonfire.org/articles/being-above-and-beyond-yourself/?queryID=36d77e5eac4358c756ec411cdfee7ed4  We are most fully alive when we are “breaking ourselves open and pouring ourselves out” in loving self-gift to God and neighbor.
This article can be read at blog.catholicwritersguild.com/2023/10/love-is-life-that-pours-itself-forth.html. "Love Is Life that Pours Itself Forth" is an excerpt from my latest book, The Book of Love: Brief Meditations (www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVSXX6P9/). Photo by Henrique Jacob on Unsplash  The greatest unity the human mind can conceive is a unity of the finite and the infinite. In Jesus Christ, God has made us finite beings capable of the infinite, capable of participating in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
You can read this article at www.wordonfire.org/articles/the-finite-is-capable-of-the-infinite/.  To surrender your life to God is to offer yourself as a conduit for the divine love.
This article can be read at blog.catholicwritersguild.com/2023/09/giving-back-to-the-giver.html "Giving Back to the Giver" is an excerpt from my latest book, The Book of Love: Brief Meditations (www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVSXX6P9/). Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash |
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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