Vivat Agnus Dei

Love is sufficient of itself, it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in its practice. I love because I love, I love that I may love. Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him. The Bridegroom’s love, or rather the love which is the Bridegroom, asks in return nothing but faithful love. Let the beloved, then, love in return. Should not a bride love, and above al

The concupiscible passions stand related to good and evil simply and easily. This means that we are talking about the aspects of love that only require a little fortitude or diligence. Although, this kind of love certainly has its place. Christ communicates its importance by saying, "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much."( Luke 16:10 ). Concupiscible love is necessary because it is how we are given the clarity to trust in a relationship where good is paramount, however,  Within our relationship with God and any relationship with others, we often think there is either total self-sacrifice or enjoyable convenience. This distinction is more unhelpful than it is false, and it is false. The reality is that the only enterprise that is truly worthwhile in the whole human project is love (implying proper order = justice). We are called to love all in various modes and expressions. Not only d

Catholic conferences and retreats speak extensively on the subject of being receptive and endeavoring to receive in truth what Christ offers in truth. As someone who values clarity and practicality, I am wont to ask, "But what does that mean?". Such questions can be hard to answer since to do so would be to describe spiritual realities, we cannot well perceive, and they very well defy description anyway by definition. Nevertheless, I think consideration helps here. I would posit that any attempt at intentionally receiving remains incomplete without an expression of gratitude since it requires both internalization and response. First, truly receiving something requires internalization. Internalization, as I use it, refers to the psychological indexing of that which is received, this opens up the subject to critical thought, practical use, and emotional response. Often, Catholics, and Christians more broadly, fail to truly receive faith because they fail to think critically abo

It is tempting, especially when we are hurt by the sins of others or when we find ourselves enslaved to our own "favorite sins" but also generally, to question "Should God really be as sure as He seems to be, that the permission of evil (usually through allowing free will) actually brings about a greater good?" We must remember at such times that we are tempted to deny a few key truths when we ask this question. The title question is not formulated in a clear or Catholic way but in a common way. Thus, let us reformulate it to allow for a more meaningful answer. We will set aside the problem of evil for another more in-depth and direct post(s) on that. Our question perhaps ought to be "In the context of free will, why did God not create us sufficiently wise, virtuous, in relationship to God, etc. to inspire us to better recognize the full weight of sinfulness that it was not only death but suffering of many kinds all often the worst imaginable." I would ans

Building from  Carter Carruthers, "Good isn't What We Think It Is", Vivat Agnus Dei, September 22, 2024. If good isn't what we think it is, and God gives gifts that are good, it seems we have one thing to do in order to learn what is good, meet its Author  (James 1:17, Matthew 7:7-11).  Clearly, we are not interested in God only because of what He offers, although it is grand.[1] Even when it comes to gifts, their worth is only derivative of the love with/from which they are given, like an encrypted message and the encryption key.[2] If we lose sight of God, we lose sight of His gifts. This will destroy us, this is hell. Without God, we have no life, and maybe this is coercive, but it is what takes to bring the beloved home, wouldn't you do that for your child  (Matthew 16:25) ? We were made for goodness and not just any good, but Goodness Himself, and our nature makes that very clear. First, the enemy from the beginning has made us to believe God is not the one t