Vivat Agnus Dei

This question is the foremost question of ethics because it is what joins or separates—depending on our answer—what is objectively good from what we subjectively feel compelled to pursue. Every person desires to be happy, and rightfully so (cf. Ps 4:7; Jn 16:24, Ps 16:11 ). However, real happiness does not lie on the other side of evil (cf. Rom 6:23) . This is where the Catholic Church becomes unpopular, for it reveals the depth of humanity’s fall. If we pursue happiness through what in fact engenders suffering, we seek our destruction and rejoice in it (cf. Prov 14:12 ).[1] This destruction disposes us to greater comfort with evil, creating conditions in which undesirable realities arise—both internal and external—and relationships at every level (with God, others, and ourselves) are degraded (cf. Jas 1:14–15 ).[2] This raises the question of what constitutes real happiness—happiness that does not produce these absurdities yet makes one truly joyful and unburdened. I would argue, and...

Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist In The Matrix Resurrections (2021), Morpheus tells Neo: “People believe the craziest things these days. They think the world’s built on choice... when it's really just another system of control.” If you have the slightest ear to Hollywood news, then you have likely heard about the Lively v. Baldoni lawsuit and the petty attempts at control which are its foundations, and even the ubiquitous relationship-ending circumstances that concern attempts to control the other whether out of malice or fear. Another instance of this is the pro-choice woman lashing out by assaulting a pro-life reporter that has recently surfaced . In both these examples of the appeal to force fallacy, one may note that it reveals there is an absence of substance to claim to the contrary of better things. So the question arises a priori, "Is moral regulation proper or antithetical to freedom?" However, given these examples and the popular bend they are expressions of, ...

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you. Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13-18 From before you were conceived, God loved you because He knew you and was prepared to choose good things for you, knowing our every sin and seeing the hurt and confusion they often come from.[1] There is no love song, poetry, Bible verse,...

Our question here originates from the connection that God is goodness itself (because He is Existence Himself, and goodness and being are synonymous) and God is Love  (Exodus 3:14, John 1:1-4; 1 John 4:8, 16). [1] Reflecting upon this and knowing the true definition of love, one recognizes that goodness is the thing willed by love.[2] Is the good that which is naturally given? It seems that goodness is self-diffusive, so love is the proper mode of existence. God has made man in His own image (Genesis 1:26). Man, called "very good" compared to other creatures called "good," is both diffusive of himself and creative (a power angels lack) (Genesis 1:31). Man is the only animal capable of love because He is the only one capable of willing good's which are reasonable even if not concupiscible . The fact that God created anything at all, "being sufficient in Himself," demonstrates that it is God's nature—and therefore that of goodness—to be at least dif...

You may look at the first word in the title and think, "Now I know he isn't speaking English". I would say that isn't entirely false, because I have only seen Aquinas use it, but he had a way of naming/applying terms well. The irascible power is a power of the soul that deals with overcoming obstacles and difficulties, fortitude is the habit of appropriately using this power. This power is the other side of the coin of the concupiscible power, which is oriented towards seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, the irascible power is concerned with resisting and overcoming challenges that impede the pursuit of good. It includes passions such as hope, daring, fear, despair, and anger, which are directed towards arduous or difficult (accomplishing/obtaining) goods and (avoiding) evils. What is irascible love then? Irascible love is the kind of love we need to truly love well because the full gift of self (in ways not-directly/inherently-biological) is found nowhere else than i...

Painting: "Jacob recieving Joseph's bloody coat" by William-Adolphe Bouguereau There is a lesson that is almost always learned fully only when painfully in this fallen world, and in a sense, it is the problem. This truth is only so crushing because it is the cause of every betrayal. It is a fact that convenience is often a significant factor in determining what relationship is chosen, which is chosen against, and worse, when. I have experienced the betrayal of people I trusted because I wanted to, those I trusted because I had to, and had a close friend betrayed. However, I am also guilty of choosing things out of convenience mostly with our Blessed Lord Who is deserving of all my love, and other times with people although not usually as extreme as the aforementioned times I was at the other end. As a finite creature made for love having very little of it in return, I could say just how much it sucks, but I am afraid it exceeds the reach of words. For God, Who knows our e...