We are all invited to work in the Lord's vineyard. But the Lord does not force anyone. He only invites. If someone doesn't want to work, or wants to only under his own conditions, he does not have to do so. In the Gospel we heard a parable about persons who wanted to work only [...]
Archive for the Posts Tagged ‘god’
Only excerpts or summaries of the posts are shown on this page. Click on the title of a post to see the whole post.Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011Seven Principles of the Spiritual Life
Friday, February 27th, 2009I've added Br. Thomas's description of Seven Principles of the Spiritual Life to the website. The principles, based on the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Therese of Lisieux, are the following: 1. To keep God in mind at all times.2. To trust in God as much as possible.3. To do all things for [...]
Discerning Your Personal Vocation
Sunday, January 18th, 2009I came across an interesting article by Fr. Peter Ryan, How to Discern Elements of Your Personal Vocation. [No longer accessible at the original address]. The article is a bit disorganized, jumping back and forth between points, but it is thought provoking, and raises some interesting questions, which I'll address in upcoming blogposts. He gives [...]
A child is born to us
Thursday, December 25th, 2008"Puer natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis!" Today a child is born to us, a son is given us! These words upon the joyful Mass of Christmas day, in which we recall the birth of our Lord into the world, and into our hearts. The God who is above all stoops down in [...]
Predestination and hope in St. Paul
Friday, December 5th, 2008I've recently had the occasion, in working with a student on predestination, to consider once again the role of predestination in St. Paul's letter to the Romans. It seems to some that the doctrine of predestination is at best useless, and at worst a dangerous doctrine, which tends to produce either presumption or despair. There [...]
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit according to Thomas Aquinas
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:14) If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:18) What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and what do they do? This post proposes an interpretation of St. Thomas Aquinas's teaching on "being [...]
Aquinas on Degrees of Love for God
Thursday, October 30th, 2008Three levels of love of God St. Thomas Aquinas, in his work On the Perfection of the Spiritual Life distinguishes three essential levels of love of God: (1) God's love for himself; (2) The love of the blessed saints and angels for God; (3) The love of those in grace and charity on earth. (1) [...]
Mercy of God
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008While sin itself is always bad, for the sinner who sincerely repents, and turns to God who forgives the sin, it can be the occasion of joy over the mercy and love of God that are revealed in his forgiveness of it. St. Thérèse of Lisieux apparently went so far as to say that the [...]
I am a Catholic seminarian and deacon in Vienna, and a teacher at the