Morality

FDR’s Inaugural Address and St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, on Fear & Cowardice, Step 21
Ladder of Divine Ascent

FDR’s First Inaugural Address and St John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent, on Fear & Cowardice, Step 21

08/06/2026 Bruce Strom 2

The chapter on fear is both one of the shortest and one of the most puzzling chapters of St John Climacus’ Ladder of Divine Ascent. In part, that is because there are many flavors of fears that spring from our most basal fears: the fear of the dark, the distressing, the dangerous.
More common are those fears that cause us to hesitate. Perhaps we fear what others think of us when we champion the good others do not see. Perhaps we fear rejection and failure. Perhaps we fear that past failures will rob us of future success. Perhaps we fear to do good when we are not encouraged. […]

Pope Francis on the Healthy Fear of God
Morality

Pope Francis on the Healthy Fear of God

08/04/2026 Bruce Strom 1

Referring to the fear of the Lord as an “alarm” that awakens us “to the presence of sin in our lives” and reminds us that one day we will “be held accountable to the just Judge,” the pontiff stated that when we start to sin, this spiritual gift can help direct the faithful back on the right path.” “When a person is not on the right path, he settles himself in evil.” “When he distances himself from God, when he takes advantage of everyone, when he lives attached to money, to vanity, to power or pride, then the holy fear of God draws his attention: You will not be happy like this, this way you will end badly.” […]

St John Climacus on Insensibility, Sleep, Prayer, and Vigil: Ladder of Divine Ascent, Steps 18-20
Ladder of Divine Ascent

St John Climacus on Insensibility, Sleep, Prayer, and Vigil: Ladder of Divine Ascent, Steps 18-20

07/10/2026 Bruce Strom 1

Father John Mack teaches us: “The labor of prayer is a labor with the thoughts. Our minds are far too lazy and undisciplined. Instead of directing our thoughts and controlling them, we allow them to run free, here and there, wherever they wish to go. So, during prayer, we find ourselves thinking about all kinds of other things.”
We are called to prayer during Divine Liturgy. Do we complain that the service is over an hour? Do we watch our watch rather than our soul? Are we attentive in prayer, are we attentive during Divine Liturgy, paying attention to our prayers, not letting our mind wander, trying not to let our mind wander? We are bidden by Jesus in his Agony of the Garden of Gethsemane to stay awake and pray. […]

History of Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
Hymns and Their Inspirations

History of Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty

06/23/2026 Bruce Strom 0

This hymn was written by the Anglican Bishop Reginald Heber. This is one of the most beloved of the roughly hundred hymns that he penned in the early 1800s, when the Anglican authorities frowned on singing hymns in church, except for the metrical chanting of Psalms. By closely reflecting the biblical verses, he sought to avoid the excessive emotionalism that Anglican authorities hoped to discourage. The Brightest and Best is another of his acclaimed hymns.
Heber pursued his literary interests, including composing hymns, while serving as a parish priest for many years. Later in life, he was appointed as bishop of Calcutta, India, seeking to improve the spiritual life and living conditions of his flock. He traveled the countryside, but due to his workload, the hostile climate, and his poor health, he passed away three years after his appointment in India. […]

Why are we starting an advocacy group for the mentally ill, elderly, and community associations?
and Community Associations

Why Are We Starting Advocates For Mental Health, Elderly, and Community Associations?

06/20/2026 Bruce Strom 0

The overall theme of our Advocacy Group is: How To Love Your Neighbor, and the corollary: How To Love Your Neighbor, even when they suffer from dementia, autism, or mental illness. SUMMARY of purpose:
Conduct educational and lobbying efforts under 501c6. Also, conduct programs and activities; raise funds to reimburse advocacy efforts; and raise funds separately for 501c3 charities and political action committees.
[…]

Pope Leo XIV Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on Artificial Intelligence and Social Justice
Morality

Pope Leo XIV Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on Artificial Intelligence and Social Justice

06/16/2026 Bruce Strom 0

Artificial intelligence both causes and enables varying types of theft. Surprisingly, when you do a word search on the encyclical, the words PLAGIARISM and THEFT are not found at all, while the word STEAL is used once. In a few sections, there are some euphemistic phrases that hint at theft, but it does not explicitly name the sin.
Winding through the courts are many lawsuits alleging plagiarism filed against the companies who created the various chatbots. Should these companies copy text into their databases without permission, and without paying royalties? Why can’t these companies always list their sources, with the option to show the original content? […]

St Moses the Black, Desert Church Father, Former Ancient Gang Leader
Early Church Writing

St Moses the Black, Desert Church Father, Former Ancient Gang Leader

05/31/2026 Bruce Strom 0

The old man said: ‘If we are on the watch to see our own faults, we shall not see those of our neighbor. It is folly for a man who has a dead person in his house to leave him there and go to weep over his neighbor’s dead. To die to one’s neighbor is this: To bear you won faults and not to pay attention to anyone else wondering whether they are good or bad.
Do no harm to anyone, do not think anything bad in your heart to anyone, do not scorn the man who does evil, do not put confidence in him who does wrong to his neighbor, do not rejoice with him who injures his neighbor.” […]

The Hymn Inspired by John I AM the Bread of Life
Hymns and Their Inspirations

The Hymn inspired by John, I Am the Bread of Life, with Commentary by Church Fathers and Reformed Preachers

05/27/2026 Bruce Strom 0

John Chrysostom teaches us: “Jesus calls this the true bread, not because the miracle of the manna was false, but because it was a type and not the very truth itself.” “After Jesus says, ‘Moses did not give,’ he does not say, ‘I give,’ but says that the Father, and not Moses, gives.”
“When they heard this, the people replied: ‘Give us this bread to eat.’ They still thought it was something material, and they yet expected to satisfy their appetites, and so they quickly ran to him. What does Christ do? Leading them on little by little, he says, ‘The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’” […]

Psalm 137: Should We Bash the Babylonian Babies? Spiritual and Historical Interpretations
Biblical Interpretation

Psalm 137: Should We Bash the Babylonian Babies Against the Rocks? Spiritual and Historical Interpretations

05/07/2026 Bruce Strom 1

Happy shall they be who take your little ones
and dash them against the rock!
Origen was one of the first Church Fathers who interpreted this troublesome verse allegorically, as did St Ambrose, who catechized and baptized the young St Augustine. Origen teaches us that “the little ones of Babylon, which signifies confusion, are those troublesome sinful thoughts that arise in the soul, and one who subdues them by striking their heads against the firm and solid strength of reason and truth, is the person who ‘dashes the little ones against the stones;’ and he is therefore truly blessed.”[2] Likewise, St Ambrose comments that we should “dash all corrupt and filthy thoughts against Christ.” […]

Literature and Myths

Comparing Seven Sleepers’ Saint Golden Legend to Rip Van Winkle, and Edward Gibbons’ Observations

04/28/2026 Bruce Strom 0

Gibbon wonders what it would be like for eons to pass quickly by while one is asleep, especially for the “two centuries between the reigns of the pagan Decius and the Christian emperor Theodosius the Younger. During this period, the seat of government has been transported from Rome to a new city,” Constantinople, “on the banks of the Thracian Bosphorus,” with a loss of the pagan military spirit. “The throne of the persecuting Decius was filled by a succession of Christian and orthodox princes, who had extirpated the fabulous gods of antiquity. Instead, the public devotion of this new age exalted the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church on the altars of Diana and Hercules. The union of the Roman Empire was dissolved: its genius was humbled in the dust, and armies of unknown barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions of the North, had established their victorious reign over the fairest provinces of Europe and Africa.” […]