Month: March 2018

Morality

Introduction to the Philokalia, the Love of the Beautiful

03/23/2018 Bruce Strom 2

When the Russian pilgrim in the spiritual classic, “The Way of a Pilgrim,” hears the Scriptures being read that exhorts us to pray without ceasing.  He asks a monk in a monastery how he can pray without ceasing, and the simple answer is he can start on his path by each day praying more.  He selling all he has, giving it to the poor, to embark on a spiritual pilgrimage, trudging through the forests of Siberia.  His only possessions in his travel bag are the Holy Scriptures and the Philokalia, the treasured writings of the early Greek Church Fathers. […]

Biblical Interpretation

Biblical Interpretation in the Catholic Church, the 1994 Pontifical Biblical Commission Decree

03/16/2018 Bruce Strom 1

Historically, the Catholic Church has defended itself from attacks, both real and imagined, from enemies of the faith, and this defensiveness also extended to Biblical studies. The twentieth century saw a relaxing of this defensiveness, culminating in the decree Dei Verbum pronounced by Vatican II, encouraging Catholic scholars to use more modern methods of interpreting the Scriptures, under the guidance of the Vatican office, the Pontifical Biblical Commission. […]

Catholic Catechism

Who Should Study the Catechism?

03/13/2018 Bruce Strom 3

Who should study the Catechism?  Everyone!  Everyone who is Catholic?  No, everyone who wants to live a godly life should study the Catechism.  The Catechism was reviewed by thousands of bishops before publication, many thousands of suggestions were pondered, more thought and care was invested in the editing of the Catholic Catechism than probably any modern book in print.  You ignore this wisdom at your moral peril.  These teachings are not merely preachings, they are annotated by thousands of footnotes to both Scripture verses and the writings of the Church Fathers and the decrees of Vatican II, Trent, and the other councils, so you can go back to the sources yourself. […]

Philosophy

Seneca, Stoic Philosopher, Moral Epistles, Blog 1, Living Well, Dying Well

03/11/2018 Bruce Strom 6

Seneca discusses our most precious possession, our possession that we can never really possess, that continually slips through our fingers, the loan we can never repay, the gift we waste through carelessness, the treasure we should not waste, our most precious possession, time.

Seneca asks, “What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. What years be behind us are in death’s hands?” Nothing in life is ours except time, while we postpone life speeds by, so let us live well, not wasting time. […]