A Treasure To Be Shared

St Mary the Virgin Parish, Arlington, TX At the Mass we discover that friendship is not something we manufacture for ourselves. Rather, it is a gift received while seeking God together. In an age marked by loneliness and fleeting connections, many people long for genuine friendship. Social media promises constant contact, yet countless hearts remain isolated. True friendship requires more than shared interests or casual conversation. It is founded upon a common pursuit of what is good, true, and beautiful. For Christians, there is no greater place to discover such friendship than in the Holy Mass. We come not to socialize but to worship Almighty God. The focus is not on ourselves but upon the sacred mysteries unfolding at the altar. Yet it is precisely this common orientation toward God that creates the deepest form of human fellowship. The liturgy teaches us that we are not isolated individuals approaching God alone. We gather as members of Christ's Body. Together we confess our s...

The voice of God in Holy Scripture is never a mere sound; it is the living self‑communication of the Lord who speaks to His people in order to create, judge, redeem, and sanctify. Across the canon, God’s voice is portrayed as both transcendent and intimate—majestic in power yet directed personally to the human heart. The Voice that Creates and Commands From the opening lines of Genesis, God’s voice is the medium of creation: “And God said…” (Gen 1). Divine speech is performative; it brings reality into being. Scripture thus presents the world not as a random emergence but as the ordered result of God’s articulate will. The same creative voice later gives the Law at Sinai (Exod 19–20), revealing that the One who speaks worlds into existence also speaks covenantal commands that shape human life. The Voice that Reveals and Interprets The prophets repeatedly describe their vocation as hearing and transmitting the word of the LORD (Jer 1:4–10; Isa 6). God’s voice is revelatory: it discloses...

Although the words communist and communionist may sound alike, they belong to utterly different realms. A communist seeks a society without private property, ordered by material equality and sustained through collective ownership. A communionist—one who lives the Catholic vision of communio—seeks a society transfigured by grace, ordered by charity, and animated by the inherent dignity of every human person. The echo between the words only heightens the contrast between the worlds they describe. For the Catholic, the human person is not a rival but a brother; not a unit of labor but an icon of God. Communism begins with an anthropology of conflict: history is driven by class struggle, and justice emerges when economic hierarchies are abolished. As Marx famously wrote, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” A communionist begins elsewhere. For the Catholic, the human person is not a rival but a brother; not a unit of labor but an icon of God. St...

Vicente Juan Masip (1507–1579)  Salvador Eucarístico To consume the Holy Eucharist is to be consumed by Christ. It’s a line that sounds paradoxical at first, but in the Christian tradition it expresses one of the deepest truths of communion: the one who eats becomes the one who is eaten. The Eucharist reverses the ordinary logic of eating. In daily life, the one who eats assimilates the food; the food becomes part of the eater. But in Holy Communion, the opposite occurs. We do not assimilate Christ into our life — Christ assimilates us into His. To consume the Eucharist is to be drawn into the life, love, and mission of the One who gives Himself as food. This is why the Fathers speak so boldly: “You will not change me into yourself… but you will be changed into me.” The Eucharist is not merely nourishment; it is transformation. Christ does not become ours so much as we become His. His life overtakes ours, His charity reshapes our desires, His humility reorders our pride, His mis...

Among the most beautiful and uplifting prayers in the Ordinariate liturgy—received from the Book of Common Prayer—is the Post‑Communion Thanksgiving, often called the General Thanksgiving or simply Almighty and Everliving God . This prayer forms a luminous bridge between Holy Communion and the Church’s mission: having received Christ, we are sent to bear Him into the world for the salvation of souls. The following reflection consists of: a line by line commentary. a brief note concerning the potential impact of the Prayer. an acknowledgment of the structure of the Prayer. the theological orientation of the Prayer. a way to meditate on the Prayer ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son,...

Envy doesn’t just distort individual judgment — it reconfigures whole political parties and conversations by shifting motives from common good to status competition, from policy reasoning to resentment‑management, and from deliberation to punitive comparison. Political psychology treats envy as a relational toxin: it warps how groups see themselves, their rivals, and even their own members. Envy reshapes political parties. Envy in politics is seldom acknowledged directly, instead showing up through indirect behaviors like moralizing, scapegoating, enforcing purity tests, and fostering factionalism. Here’s a breakdown of how envy can mutate party dynamics. Status mimicry. Parties begin imitating the rhetorical style, emotional tone, or organizational tactics of rivals they resent. Envy drives copycat radicalization: “If they mobilize outrage, we must mobilize more.” Internal purging. Envy of rising figures inside the party produces loyalty tests, ideological policing, and factional pu...

Observations Human dignity stands as one of the most enduring pillars of moral and political philosophy. It asserts that every person possesses an intrinsic worth that precedes all social arrangements, legal systems, and cultural norms. This worth is not granted by the state, nor earned through achievement; it is inherent, rooted in the very fact of being human. To affirm dignity is to recognize that each person is a moral subject — capable of reason, freedom, and responsibility — and therefore must never be reduced to a mere instrument of another’s will. Dignity does not exist in isolation. It unfolds within the fabric of community, where individuals live, act, and pursue their flourishing. This is where the common good enters philosophical discourse. The common good is not the sum of private interests nor the triumph of collective power over the individual. Rather, it is the set of social conditions that allow persons — as individuals and as members of communities — to realize their ...

Excerpt from Architects of Communion  Guide for Parish Development The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter files.ecatholic.com/3059/documents/2016/6/160531_Guide_to_Parish_Development.pdf?t=1465586849000 Introduction "The clergy and faithful of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter are called to be architects of communion, simultaneously preserving the distinctiveness and integrity of their communities while demonstrating commitment to act in communion with the broader Church. One of the means to demonstrate a commitment to communion is through the careful development of Ordinariate parishes and parochial communities. "The parish has at its basis and center the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, from which all education in the Spirit originates and from which flows various works of charity, mutual help, missionary activity, and different forms of Christian witness. The organization of the Catholic Church known as its hierarchical constitution is understood as f...

This past week the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released a document acknowledging the vital contribution of communities of the Personal Ordinariate to the spiritual health of the Church. The document highlights important aspects of the Ordinariate charism and the character of communities that have developed since Pope Benedict issued the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus on November 4, 2009, the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo. What are some defining features of the Ordinariate within the life of the Church? A Distinctive “Ecclesial Ethos”.  The Bishops first spoke of a distinctive “ecclesial ethos,” marked by the broad participation of both clergy and laity in the life and governance of the Church. This culture, grounded in relationships that shape the ecclesial life of each Ordinariate, is inherently consultative and collaborative . It is also characterized by a capacity to welcome converts into Catholic communion while preserving the uniqueness of their spi...