Unearned Luck

Photo by  Daniel von Appen  on  Unsplash For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.                      Romans 15:4-6 The problem of modernism , especially in light of the methodology employed in the Thomistic metaphysics employed in the Catholic Church, is modernism's representation of the internal experience of the individual as the foundation of reality, raising the practical sciences above the speculative sciences or doing away with the speculative sciences all together, denying anything other than the "knowable" as relevant for study, and claiming the material wor...

Photo by  Jonny Swales  on  Unsplash Hello! I'm starting a new project called " Ten Second Theology ," a series of short YouTube videos explaining different aspects of the Catholic faith. Click on through and be sure to tell me what you want to know next. Thank You!

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; therefore, as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord.'” -1 Corinthians 1:25-31 It's late at night. I'm tired. It has been a rough week. I have never been more stressed in my life, than I am now. There are so many different concerns on my mind. Very little seems to be ...

Photo by Alina Miroshnichenko on Unsplash But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing. -James 1:22-25 I finished reading Dennis Lehane's Gone Baby Gone this week. I wanted to compare it to the movie version, which my son had recommended to me a few months back. I was surprised by what I took to be the Catholic perspective of the movie, although others argue with me about that interpretation. From the opening quote of something Patrick Kenzie's pastor had said to him years previously to his deciding to watch Amanda, while her mother, Helene, resumes her old ways in the final scene of the movie, P...

Photo by  Jackson Hendry  on  Unsplash "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge  of God, rather than burnt offerings." -Hosea 6:6 In relating the narratives surrounding Christ's Passion and Resurrection, all four Gospels point out "...the women who had followed him from Galilee..." (Luke 23:49), namely, Mary , the mother of Jesus, Mary , the wife of Clopas and the mother of James (the lesser) and Joseph or Joses, Salome , the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James (the greater) and John, and Mary Magdalene , "from whom he had cast out seven demons" (Mark 16:9). These women "had followed Jesus...ministering to him" (Matthew 27:55). Now they were witnesses to his death and, soon, would witness his Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. There is more to glean from the Sacred Scriptures about these women. The Blessed Virgin Mary was the widow of Joseph, a carpenter in Nazareth. Her son is the Son of G...

Welcome back to Unearned Luck! Three years have passed, since last I posted to this blog. With a new format and some new perspectives, today's relaunch signals an even better experience for you. Thank you very much for your loyalty and your interest.

"Then Job arose, and rent his robes, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return; the L ORD gave, and the L ORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the L ORD .'"    -Job 1:20-21 "'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on....[D]o not be anxious...[Y]our heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.'"    -St. Matthew 6:25a, 31a, 32b, 33 Recently, I read through the Book of Job again. I had forgotten how beautiful a text it is, and in its beauty is its inspiration. From the account of Job offering sacrifice daily for the sanctity of his children to the description of God holding court and His interaction with Satan to God's own testimony to His infi...