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Catholic Social Teaching: The Rule of Law

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:31:09 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: The Rule of Law

How does a government maintain order without falling into tyranny (order without reason) or chaos (lack of order)? When citizens do not fulfill their duties and vindicate their rights, power tends to corrupt over time. Building on what we’ve learned about God’s authority and the goal of true freedom, we can ask: what is the role that law should play in our society?

St. Thomas Aquinas defined law as “ an ordinance of reason for the common good , made by him who has care of the community , and promulgated” (STh I-II.90.4). Breaking that apart into its component parts, law must be in accord with reason. God’s eternal law governs the universe in accord with his wisdom. It is manifested in two ways: the natural law written into the human heart, and the divine law that God reveals for the benefit of humankind. These two sources should ground any civil law that results. Governance based on reason and the natural law succeeds where the arbitrary whims of a ruler or majority fails. It is stable over time and benefits the whole much better than the rollercoaster ride of partisan politics. Because God is the ultimate source of all authority, human laws only carry moral weight when they align with God’s divine law. If they are manifestly unjust or unreasonable, they have no binding force and are not laws at all (so say St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and others).

Secondly, laws are made for the common good. Their purpose is to establish the conditions necessary for the flourishing of the whole of society. Their goal is not to level every playing field or redistribute everything equally, but to make flourishing possible by setting up rules of conduct. The state protects the moral power of citizens to do what is right by providing a stable legal framework. As one example, without the ability to enforce contracts, no one could enter business. We’ve spoken enough about the common good to make it clear why laws serve it.

Thirdly, laws are made by him (or her) who has care of the community. Parents make laws for their household, cities make laws for its citizens, all the way up to the federal government. Here we distinguish the medieval conditions of Thomas Aquinas (where monarchs legislated, executed, and judged the land’s laws) from the threefold republican system of government present in the USA. The branch charged with legislating (making laws) is unsurprisingly the Legislature, known as Congress. Congress, representing the people in the closest way, has care of the communities it serves, and must make laws benefitting the common good. Presidents and judges make sure those laws are executed properly, but they must not usurp the proper role that Congress plays. Finally, a law must be promulgated. Threats of a law, drafts of a law, rumors of a law do not have any force. It must be official.

From what we’ve said in this series, it’s clear that the State is sovereign in its sphere and can make laws for the common good, but must respect the authority of the Church. Faithful Catholics must obey all laws that do not contradict the natural or divine law. They have the right to resist and protest when civil laws conflict with God’s law. Good laws provide a foundation for each family (the smallest cell of society) to flourish. We’ll speak more about the family’s role next week!

-Fr. Stephen

The Crucifix During the Easter Season?

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 19:28:55 GMT

The Crucifix During the Easter Season?

In past years, it had been the custom to place a painting of the Risen Christ in front of the crucifix during the season of Easter. No doubt, this was done to show that we are an Easter people, and the Crucified One is now the Risen One who has beaten Death and Hell forever. So what does leaving the crucifix in its place during the Easter season communicate? It’s not a mere morbid fascination with Good Friday that should be dispensed with starting on Easter Sunday. Nor is the Risen Christ a mere escape from the horrific reality of Good Friday in favor of Easter Sunday. Each communicates something beautiful and true about our faith. Read what St. Theodore the Studite, an 8th-century monk, who was an expert in religious art, says about the Cross:

How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.

This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the Lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brave warrior wounded in his hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation!...

The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God’s command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons’ wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God’s own people? Aaron’s rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood?

By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven.

Far from being a horrific symbol confined to Good Friday, the Cross remains a trophy of victory, a symbol of hope, and proof of God’s love for us. Let us continue to glory in the Cross of Christ, through which we receive salvation!

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: The Duties of Citizenship

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:01:01 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: The Duties of Citizenship

Last week’s discussion on the common good sets us up perfectly for the rest of the series. The common good is our North Star in social ethics: it indicates what actions should be taken and avoided to do God’s will within society. Unless we have a correct understanding of God and human nature, we won’t be able to help people flourish in the way God desires. Especially as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it’s important to clarify what duties we have as citizens who are also Catholics called to share the good news and pursue the common good.

Catholics have the opportunity to fulfill their duties as citizens from a theological or spiritual perspective, not merely a humanistic one. St. Peter clearly states, “Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the approval of those who do good. For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people” (1 Pt. 2:13-15). So our default stance with regard to government is one of respect and obedience, without which no society could ever flourish.

The most general duties of citizenship include taking part in public life (especially voting in a democracy), paying taxes (happy Tax Day), defending our country, and abiding by the law and respecting one another. These duties are moral obligations imposed on us by God and his Church for the building up of the society around us. Even if our country is imperfect in many ways and has yet to live up to the ideals, we are called to exercise the virtue of patriotism (genuine love for homeland) to help better our nation. God commanded the people of Israel in exile in Babylon to “Seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you; pray for it to the Lord, for upon its welfare your own depends” (Jer. 29:7). Yet it’s also necessary to acknowledge that God’s law comes from before civil obedience, and we should stand firm should there be a moment when our faith is being threatened by government action. As the apostles told the Sanhedrin, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

One important dimension of citizenship to balance the others is the duty to offer constructive criticism, not contempt or disorder. Especially if we believe that government policies are not contributing to the common good, we have a moral obligation to speak out and convince the powers that be to change course. The US Bishops have exercised that responsibility collectively when they criticized the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate back in 2013, when they lamented the cuts to social safety net funding from both parties in recent election cycles, and when they have critiqued the immigration approach of the Trump administration and his bellicose statements during the current war in Iran. These statements provide a helpful blueprint for how to respectfully voice our disagreement without resorting to anarchy or violence. Our identity as citizens is too important to waste. Don’t live your citizenship passively, but “seek the welfare of the city to which you have been exiled” (Jer. 29:7)!

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: The Common Good

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 20:58:32 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: The Common Good

The common good is so central to everything in the Church’s social teaching, and yet the term is used loosely and sloppily by most people nowadays. It’s used in a utilitarian sense to mean ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’. It can refer to the ‘will of the majority’ or ‘helping others’ or the narrow interests of a specific group (like a nation, class, or ethnicity). Let’s define our terms and see how it applies to everything we’ve been learning in this series.

To love God fully, we must love others, but to love them we must understand what they need to flourish, both as individuals and as a whole society. The Church defines the common good as “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily” ( Gaudium et spes 26). In plain English, the common good is all the foundational things in society that help people flourish. A common good is 1) universal, 2) indivisible, and 3) essential to individual human flourishing. The common good belongs to the whole community and benefits all. Unlike private goods that are divided into parts and distributed, the common good cannot be divided. A team’s victory over an opponent isn’t divided into 12 equal slices, whereas the pizza at the afterparty can be. Private goods are not evil by any means; private property is not only permitted but praised by the Church. But common goods, when shared, help all people flourish. Finally, the common good must always respect the human person that it’s meant to serve. You can’t serve the common good by stripping a person of their dignity or rights unjustly. Common goods help people by ensuring access to basic rights like food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, and employment. Notice that the common good isn’t these resources themselves, for all of them are inherently limited (not enough homes, jobs, clothing to go around), but access to them in some quantity is essential. Fair labor practices (just wages, safe working conditions, etc.) and care for God’s creation benefit all without disadvantage. A nation that provides security for its citizens through morally acceptable means also enables people to flourish.

Looking at the topics covered in this series, it’s clear that pursuing the common good requires that we hold to objective truths about the human person and what they need to flourish. It means promoting God as the ultimate Common Good, the origin of all authority and the measure of all justice, the one who enables us to live freely and virtuously in this life so as to enjoy eternal goodness with him in Heaven. Only if we know God and understand human nature rightly can we provide for the conditions that allow society to flourish. The common good should be the goal of every political policy, every social program, every economic endeavor, and yet we know how far away this ideal is from reality. Let us pray that we can do our part to bring the common good into being through our thoughts, words, and actions this Easter season!

-Fr. Stephen

Easter Sunday: Let All Rejoice!

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 14:15:25 GMT

Easter Sunday: Let All Rejoice!

Happy Easter to you all! I hope and pray that your Lenten season was as spiritually fruitful as mine has been, especially with the crosses that choose us rather than the ones we choose ourselves. It is the custom in many churches to read from an Easter homily by St. John Chrysostom that touches on the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Mt. 20:1-16), a metaphor for our struggles in the spiritual life. I share it with you as encouragement to rejoice whether or not your Lent has gone the way you hoped:

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Is there anyone who is a grateful servant? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting? Let them now receive their wages! If any have toiled from the first hour, let them receive their due reward; If any have come after the third hour, let him with gratitude join in the Feast! And he that arrived after the sixth hour, let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss. And if any delayed until the ninth hour, let him not hesitate; but let him come too. And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, as well as to him that toiled from the first. Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord! First and last alike receive your reward; rich and poor, rejoice together! Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden! Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one. Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free. He has destroyed it by enduring it.

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated! Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is Risen, and life is liberated! Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

God bless you, and may you rejoice abundantly this Easter season!

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: True Liberty

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:53:23 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: True Liberty

Last week, we explored how Church and State are called to work together to promote the natural and supernatural flourishing of the human person. One of the most important teachings of Christ is on the proper use of freedom. Simply put, true freedom is the ability to do what we ought, not the ability to do what we want .

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence). God is the Ultimate Good (Summum Bonum) of everything that exists. If it is a clear choice between God and some lesser good, we will inevitably choose God. But our choices are often between earthly goods, and so we are free to choose between good and evil. This is God’s plan: “God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him” (St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies ). God doesn’t want automatons; he wants free men and women who choose him for his sake and find their happiness therein.

This vision of freedom clashes with a modern notion of freedom that isn’t about choosing what is good, but the raw power to choose. “It’s a free country. I can do what I want. I’m within my rights. To each their own.” I can do what I want, when I want, how I want, where I want, with whomever I want. This freedom isn’t rooted in what is true and good; it’s indifferent to what will make us better people. But the truth is that the more we choose short-term pleasures over our deepest desires for happiness, the less free we will become over time. Habits of vice grow into a life of slavery to sin. But Christ came, taught, suffered, died and rose for our true happiness. “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit to the yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).

This logic of Christ applies not only to individual actions, but to popular concepts like freedom of worship, speech, and tolerance. Worship and speech are only free when they are rooted in the truth about who God is and who he made us to be. This is why Pope Leo XIII controversially quipped: “Error has no rights.” We can tolerate a certain difference of opinion around religion or truth only when we understand that the ultimate goal is to lead everyone to Christ through his Church. We don’t force the truth down people’s throats or impose taxes on non-Catholics, but we also shouldn’t advocate for everyone to believe and say whatever they want. When people believe and say things that are false, it erodes their dignity and can degrade society as a whole. The Church, by tutoring us individually in the exercise of our freedom (to do what we ought), can also teach society how true freedom comes through obedience to God’s law. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to train us in this true freedom and enable us to persuade others of Christ’s freeing message!

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: The Two Powers

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 18:49:40 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: The Two Powers

Two weeks ago, we determined that while all civil authority comes from God, not the will of the people, this does not mean that every ruler is directly anointed by Him and beyond reproach. In fact, history has shown time and again that good leaders (either through direct election or permission of hereditary succession) do not often come to power. That doesn’t give us the right to revolt just because we don’t like something that’s happening, but it does encourage us to promote the common good wherever we find ourselves. How is the Church as an institution supposed to cooperate in the common good? If the Church lobbies, cajoles, or pushes the State toward a certain outcome, is she overstepping her boundaries and meddling?

Let us establish once and for all that there are two distinct but inseparable spheres of authority in human life. As Pope Leo XIII put it, “The Almighty, therefore, has appointed that charge of the human race between two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, things.” The Church is tasked with the spiritual well-being and salvation of souls, the State with their temporal well-being and the maintenance of peace and justice. The Church is to the State what the soul is to the body: its animating force, its moral compass, its ultimate reason for existing. If the State fulfills its role properly, it will establish the conditions by which humans can grow in natural virtue and seek God as members of Christ’s Body the Church. If the Church fulfills its role properly, its subjects will be tireless advocates for the common good and good citizens in the society around them.

But what happens when these two powers overlap and even conflict, as they sometimes do with religious citizens? Church and State are called to a deep level of cooperation and harmony because they are both aimed at the flourishing of persons. Unfortunately, while the Church has recognized the State’s legitimate role in assisting human flourishing, the modern State does not often recognize the Church’s role. The modern State claims near universal authority over every aspect of its citizens’ lives and often balks when the Church attempts to receive funding through generally available school choice programs, when the faithful encourage public prayer during the school day, or when parents of faith opt out of harmful curricula like gender ideology. Some states like Delaware, Washington, and South Dakota have even tried (unsuccessfully) to force priests to be mandatory reporters of sexual abuse even when it would involve violating the seal of the confessional and facing excommunication. This untenable situation results from the denial of God in the public square (naturalism) and the perceived need to avoid favoring any group over another (pluralism).

We as Catholics are called to recognize Christ's legitimate authority over our lives through his Church and the way in which the State is called to set the earthly stage for eternal flourishing to occur. But how does this obedience to Christ interact with our innate desire for freedom (baked into us as Americans through the Declaration and the Constitution)? We’ll learn more next week!

-Fr. Stephen

Jesus in the Center: the Tabernacle

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:22:29 GMT

Jesus in the Center: the Tabernacle

Either by this weekend or next, the tabernacle will be moved from the high altar of the side chapel into the main church beneath the crucifix and our new stained glass window. Moving the tabernacle to the sanctuary isn't a simple architectural change; it's a profound spiritual one. It visibly and powerfully proclaims the abiding presence of Jesus Christ among us. This central placement serves as a constant reminder of the profound mystery we celebrate at every Mass and encourages us to spend more time in quiet adoration and prayer. By seeing the tabernacle as we enter, we are immediately drawn into a more intimate encounter with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

From a practical standpoint, this change also simplifies our Sunday liturgy. Previously, an adult altar server must process with the Eucharist from the chapel into the main church during the Lamb of God at each weekend Mass. Having the tabernacle in the sanctuary streamlines this part of the liturgy. Weekday Mass will still be celebrated in the side chapel for the foreseeable future, but with logistical alterations to make Communion flow smoothly.

Some devotional notes: because the tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament is now in the main church, all the faithful are invited to genuflect upon entering or exiting their pew in the direction of the tabernacle . This is done with the right knee bending down to the ground and making the sign of the cross. If you are unable to do so for health or mobility reasons, you are welcome to make a profound bow from the waist toward the tabernacle. This motion of going down on one knee or profoundly bowing teaches our souls through our bodies that we are in the presence of the King of Kings. It can teach us a deeper reverence and respect while we are in church. In addition, I remind you that all food and drink, with the exception of water or necessary medication, should remain outside the church . Parents, if your small ones need a snack, I recommend it be small and compact so it doesn’t leave copious crumbs everywhere ��.

I invite you to stop me after Mass or contact me if you have any questions or concerns about this change. Our goal is a smooth transition that enriches our entire parish. I am confident this change will beautifully complement the new stained-glass window we’ve installed, making our sanctuary a true beacon of faith for generations to come. God bless you all!

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: The Origin of Civil Authority

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 20:22:00 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: The Origin of Civil Authority

“The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness” (Ps. 24:1). God as Creator and Sustainer has complete and total authority over the universe he created, from the smallest atoms to the largest stars. If this is true, then where does civil authority come from?

We have been taught as Americans that we have a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” (Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address), and that “government deriv[es] their just powers from the consent of the governed” (Declaration of Independence). In simple terms, the American political system is built on the philosophy that governments have authority because the people in a primordial ‘state of nature’ give some secondary rights through a ‘social contract’ to protect the primary ones like life, liberty, and property (Rousseau and Locke). When governments break this social contract, the people are justified in changing the system to suit their needs.

The Church understands something different about this story. A nation’s rulers may be designated by the people through hereditary lineage (monarchy) or popular election (democracy), but their authority does not come from that designation alone . Their authority derives from participation in God’s authority for the common good. Scriptural proofs abound: “By me kings reign…by me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice” (Prov. 8:15-16). The Lord Jesus, speaking to Pontius Pilate on the day of his death, remarks, “You would have no power over me unless it were given from above” (Jn. 19:11). The State’s authority cannot come from the people alone because it has the power to justly compel its citizens into obedience, and no human being can have that power over another without a higher authority (God) in place.

Does this therefore mean that all rulers, whether elected or born, govern with God’s direct blessing? Was Hitler or Stalin God’s anointed regent? No, for immediately after clarifying that all authority comes from God, Pope Leo XIII states, “it is necessary that those who exercise [power] should do it as having received it from God” ( Diuturnum 11). God permits human beings to wield authority over others for the sake of the common good (it is better for society to be organized hierarchically than not), but they do not have a blank check to do whatever they want. They should see their authority as a gift and a responsibility to be used justly. They should strive to follow the natural law of their hearts and the sage wisdom of God’s Church.

We as citizens have a default responsibility to obey laws that do not contradict the natural or divine law, and civil disobedience should be the last resort, not the first. Our obedience as Catholics not only proves we’re good Americans, but can help show others the Divine Lawgiver who guides our ‘sweet land of liberty’. The tightrope between acknowledging the State’s legitimate authority without making it into a god is tough to walk in today’s political climate that demands unswerving obedience to one political party, but the Church knows who’s really in charge. “He’s got the whole world in his hands.”

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: Rejection of Naturalism

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 19:37:58 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: Rejection of Naturalism

As I said last week, the doctrine of Naturalism, the principle that society can be organized without God, fails to achieve the common good it longs for and has inherited from Christian culture. By divorcing God and man, faith and science, revelation and reason, societies set themselves on a dark and lonely path. But why is God necessary for the survival and flourishing of secular society? In our pluralistic society, wouldn’t the Church’s presence in the public square be intolerant toward nonbelievers?

As St. Augustine once said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This isn’t merely a good mantra or a bumper sticker, but reveals that God made every human person to flourish in relationship with him. When we don’t rest in God individually, our hearts are restless and we search after lesser things. When we don’t rest in God communally or societally, something similar happens. We chase after countless shiny objects that our culture and our governments promise will make us happy, but we end up unfulfilled and our society ends up broken, lonely, and dull.

When modern society rejects God and his Revelation, when it tries to solve the world’s problems without God’s guidance, it inevitably goes astray. When the State ignores God, the laws it passes and enforces are subject to the whims of whoever holds power at that given moment. In our own country, the ⅗ Compromise, the Dred Scott Decision, and Jim Crow Laws all demonstrate what happens when the natural law planted by God in our hearts is not reflected in just civil laws. The same can be said of attempts to expand abortion, euthanasia, and gender ideology that harm the vulnerable and the voiceless. When the State does try to tackle social problems like poverty, racism, or international relations without God or his Church, its attempts falter since it imperfectly understands only some aspects of reality. It focuses on technical solutions that prize efficiency, speed and fixing problems through algorithms, policy, or legal enforcement. The truly human (and therefore religious) approach focuses on interpersonal connection and interior conversion to foster virtue and make sacrifices for the common good. God’s natural law implanted in our hearts and his divine law revealed in the Church guide reason to discern and craft solutions that help humans achieve their God-given destiny.

So am I proposing a theocracy or a State where all the politicians are Catholic and impose the faith on others? Of course not! Humans have an inalienable right not to have their consciences coerced by others. The Gospel is always a proposal and an invitation, not an imposition or a domination. But the false notion that the Church and State must always and everywhere be completely separate and alienated from one another does not help the State to govern justly or the Church to act as leaven within society. As we’ll learn next week, if all authority (including civil) comes from God, then his Church has a role to play in being salt and light for the world.

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: Unity of Faith and Reason

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 20:00:15 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: Unity of Faith and Reason

As we’ve learned previously, our God loves reason and order. He created the universe to be logical and intelligible and to be ruled by him through his divine law manifested in our hearts through the natural law and our society through just civil law. Fortunately for us, this all-powerful and orderly God also lovingly reveals himself to humanity so we can know him, love him, and enjoy eternal happiness with him. He chooses to do so through two books: the Book of Creation and the Book of Scripture.

God reveals himself indirectly through nature. The towering peaks of the Rockies, the surging of Niagara Falls, the migration of Monarch butterflies, the unique contours of each snowflake all demonstrate the beautiful care of our Creator toward his work. In addition, God created us in unique ways to point back to him. We are social by nature and placed in community, pointing back to God himself as a community of Divine Persons. We have a religious instinct that wants to discover the Ultimate Truth and worship something if not Someone. We have an intellect and will, by which we know and love, powers within us that are infinite in scope. While our senses can only take in so much sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, our souls have no limit to what they can know and love. Over time, humanity began to systematize this observable knowledge through the scientific method. This path for measuring and quantifying the elements of the universe is a remarkable gift, but it reaches its natural limit in tangible, observable phenomena. Reason and science cannot and were not designed to get beyond what we can sense to questions of meaning or spiritual realities.

Beyond reason but not contrary to it, God reveals himself directly through Scripture and Tradition. We could never know God as he truly is without his decision to show us. He reveals truths about our common origin, nature, and destiny to us, that we are made in his image to know and love him. God knew that we would struggle to learn the necessary truths for eternal happiness alone (Heck, I struggled with basic physics!), and so he reveals truths of human nature as well so we can know them more easily, certainly, and exactly. Revelation and Reason are not opposing but harmonious since they share one origin in God. Reason provides good foundations for the truths of faith, while faith clarifies and strengthens rational convictions. Faith without Reason is blind and inhuman. Reason without Faith is uncertain, slow, and error-ridden. It often only asks, ‘Can we do this?’ rather than ‘Should we do this?’

Next week, we’ll explore why the doctrine of Naturalism, the principle that society can be organized without God, fails to achieve the common good it longs for and has inherited from Christian culture. By divorcing God and man, faith and science, revelation and reason, societies set themselves on a dark and lonely path. Let’s find out if there’s a way to start heading back toward the light!

-Fr. Stephen

Stained Glass Window Figures

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:26:32 GMT

Stained Glass Window Figures

St. Matthias: Chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot; he was a witness to the Resurrection from the beginning of Christ's ministry.
St. Simon the Zealot: A member of the Zealot party before his calling; he represents the transformative power of Christ's message of peace.
St. James the Greater: Son of Zebedee and first apostle martyred; he witnessed the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden. Buried in Compostela, Spain.
St. Philip: A practical man from Bethsaida who told Nathanael to "come and see" Jesus, later asking to see the Father.
St. Bartholomew: Also known as Nathanael; Jesus called him a man without guile. He is traditionally believed to have preached in India.
St. Peter: The fisherman, first Pope, and "Rock" upon whom the Church is built; he held the keys to the heavenly kingdom.
St. Paul: The "Apostle to the Gentiles"; converted on the road to Damascus, he wrote most of the New Testament epistles.
St. Stephen: The first deacon and first martyr; he died praying for his executioners while seeing the glory of God opened.
St. John: The "Beloved Disciple" who stood at the Cross and took Mary into his home; author of the fourth Gospel.
St. Thomas: Often called "Doubting Thomas," he famously touched Christ's wounds and proclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" after the Resurrection.
St. James the Less: Son of Alphaeus; he served as a central leader in the Jerusalem Church and authored an eponymous New Testament epistle.
St. Matthew: A former tax collector who left his booth to follow Christ; he authored the Gospel primarily for Jewish-Christian audiences.
St. Jude Thaddeus: Known as the patron of desperate cases; he wrote an epistle encouraging believers to contend for the faith once delivered.
St. Andrew: Peter’s brother who first followed John the Baptist before bringing Peter to meet Jesus, the Messiah and True Light.
The Blessed Virgin Mary: The Mother of God (Theotokos) conceived without sin; she remained perfectly united with her Son in the work of salvation.

Catholic Social Teaching: The Sovereignty of God

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:53:50 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: The Sovereignty of God

“The Lord reigns; the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples” (Ps. 99:1-3). There is nothing and no one that is outside of the authority of God . As the well-known African-American spiritual puts it: “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” We are fortunate indeed that the Al-Mighty God is also the All-Good God who loves reason and order. He created all things within his loving plan, and he designed the universe to be intelligible to us creatures by the light of reason.

As a just ruler, God governs through divine law , a reasonable command aimed at the common good. This divine law he placed in the human heart as the natural law which teaches them to avoid evil and choose good. After the Fall, as societies of humans grew and spread over the earth, authority was exercised within families (Gen. 3:16, Ex. 20:12), within villages, up to kings and emperors. Each exercised this authority either well or poorly through civil law : parents to children, elders to villagers, kings and emperors to subjects. Yet all their authority ultimately came from God who designed the earth and human society to be this way. Even when they exercised it imperfectly, each ancient society recognized the existence of a divine authority to which they would have to answer.

The Enlightenment (16th-18th c.) changed this paradigm dramatically by promoting a conception of human society independent of God and religion. Authority comes through the consent of the governed, and civil laws are made based on social norms for good behavior rather than God’s eternal law. This conception is not only incorrect but corrosive to society. As I mentioned last week, without objective truth or morality there’s no guarantee that civil laws will be just or promote the common good (abortion and segregation are just two examples). Without God’s judgment over earthly rulers, there are precious few restraints to the greed and violence to which people with absolute power gravitate. The Catholic vision of God’s authority does not require a Catholic monarchy or a Congress of solely Catholics. It does mean that while the spheres of civil government and the Church remain distinct, civil authorities should govern and enact laws in accordance with the natural law implanted in their hearts by God and should seek out the Church’s wisdom because only God’s revealed religion recognizes humanity’s origin and destiny in God.

We as Catholics should strive to bring all aspects of our life and society as a whole under God’s reign. This is what we pray for each time we say the Our Father: “Thy kingdom, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It means knowing God’s word and his commands, learning the Church’s vision for society (through these articles), and not being afraid to bring our faith into the public square.

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: The Primacy of Truth

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 18:56:48 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: The Primacy of Truth

If my two principles from last week are correct (God is good, we are fallen), then we should expect that merely human attempts to achieve heaven on earth will inevitably fail, but that God’s faithfulness will continue to guide us toward truth and justice if we listen to his voice. This listening is not something purely supernatural or esoteric, but also means listening to our own human nature and the way the world works. In doing so, we stumble into that most misunderstood of academic disciples, philosophy.

Most people think philosophy is something abstract and completely useless for daily life. They believe it’s only mental gymnastics about topics like being and essence that don’t pay the bills or help us solve the world’s problems. They couldn’t be more wrong! Philosophy is the love of wisdom (philo-love, sophia-wisdom), a searching after truth that leads us to understand reality more clearly and easily. Every human being is a philosopher whether they know it or not. The only question is whether they are a good philosopher or a bad one. A good philosophical mind is always able to reach the truth which serves as the only durable building block for personal growth or social improvement. Without truth or objective reality, we are confused about who we are or what we were made for, and society at large stagnates. If there is no objective truth, then you and I have the responsibility of creating our own meaning out of life. We are uniquely burdened with figuring everything out for ourselves instead of trusting ancient wisdom to guide us. Societies that do not rely on past wisdom end up promoting the individual with its wants and needs rather than the common good .

Both faith and reason rely on good philosophy to thrive. Far from being blind or irrational, true faith is fortified by true philosophy which helps the mind understand the natural causes of the universe from their effects. Sound philosophy ensures that the physical sciences like biology, chemistry, and physics don’t start making false assumptions about the universe when they observe it. To a good mind, observing the world around us which appears orderly and arranged, we can perceive the handiwork of the Great Orderer and Arranger. Because we understand our human nature (a thinking and loving being composed of soul and body), we can understand how to grow closer to God (thinking about him and loving him so as to live with him forever body and soul). Society as a whole relies on philosophy for order. Much of the injustice and unrest occurring in our communities and our country as a whole traces its roots back to false revolutionary philosophies like marxism or nationalism that do not recognize humanity’s common origin and destiny and end up demonizing the other side. Catholics throughout our history have used philosophy to strengthen the faith and promote a just ordering of society. Let’s reason well together in the future weeks to discover the path to wisdom that places God at the center!

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: Diagnosing Illness

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 18:40:11 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: Diagnosing Illness

As I’ve continued to learn about the beauty of the Church’s social teaching while preparing these bulletin columns, I’ve discovered that my former strategy of listing topics wasn’t really getting at the heart of the matter. Learning about abstract concepts like solidarity and subsidiarity and dignity can be helpful, but only if they help make sense of the scope of salvation history and God’s plan for the ordering of human society until his Second Coming. Unless I frame these concepts in relation to our salvation as well as our creation , to our supernatural destiny as well as our natural origin, my words will be indistinguishable from any secular human rights organization and they won’t advance the conversation in a meaningful way. They won’t help you understand why Christ and his Church matter for you and your neighbor.

A foundational principle for the Church’s social teaching is the following: God is good. God cares what happens down here on earth, and he cares whether we are organizing our society in ways that help us to know him and love our neighbor better. This might sound really obvious if we believe in a personal God who created everything and continues to sustain everything in being. But well-meaning Catholics can put so much emphasis on the next life (“as it is in heaven”) that they forget that their seemingly mundane choices in this life have eternal consequences (“thy will be done on earth”). Scripture demonstrates time and again that God chooses to intervene in events on earth to advance his kingdom: Adam and Eve in the Garden (Gen. 3), Noah at the Flood (Gen. 6), the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), the Red Sea (Ex. 13-14), the Battle of Jericho (Josh. 6), the destruction of the Assyrian army (Is. 37), etc. He wants us to live in a society that is just and fair to the weakest and that loves and obeys him as God.

A second reason why the Church has a social teaching is the following: we are not good. Since the Fall, human societies without God at the center have become sicker and sicker. We do not live in a vacuum, we are not born with a clean slate, the world we live in is not neutral ground. If you believe we’re closer to heaven on earth than previous ‘barbaric’ centuries, ask yourself in the words of Pope St. John Paul II whether modern man is “more mature spiritually, more aware of the dignity of his humanity, more responsible, more open to others, espcially the neediest and weakest, and readier to give and to aid all” ( Redemptor Hominis 15). Rising rates of obesity, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, and social isolation all point in the wrong direction. We need Christ more than ever to help us understand why material prosperity and modern freedoms haven’t made us happier, more generous, more Christ-like people. Jesus Christ, through his Church, gives us solutions to these problems, but we first have to recognize the roots of our collective illness in order to work toward a lasting cure. I hope to funnel some of this perennial wisdom into our conversation through upcoming columns.

-Fr. Stephen

Catholic Social Teaching: St. Teresa of Calcutta

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 20:09:51 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: St. Teresa of Calcutta

Following up on my column from two weeks ago on the principle of solidarity, we look today at the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta, better known as Mother Teresa. She shines a light on what it means to be in true solidarity with others through Christ’s love.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes (Anjezë) in Skopje in 1910 in what is now North Macedonia to ethnic Albanian parents. Agnes discerned a religious calling early in life and she joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland in 1928 to learn English and become a missionary to India. After arriving in India, she taught at St. Mary’s School in Calcutta for 17 years, eventually becoming the headmistress. While she loved teaching, the poverty of the city and the Famine of 1943 disturbed her immensely. Then on September 10th, 1946 as she was journeying by train for her retreat, she heard the voice of God calling her to leave the convent and serve the poor directly. A couple years later she received permission to leave her order and she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 with the added religious vow of giving “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor”. This group grew from a small group of former students to a global network of thousands of sisters by the time of Mother Teresa’s death in 1997. She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 2003 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.

How did Mother Teresa demonstrate this solidarity, this firm commitment to pursuing the common good, in action? Unsurprisingly, she followed the recommendations I listed in my column: material support, advocacy and friendship. First, she identified totally with the poor she served. She adopted their dress (white and blue sari, the garment of the poor), lived without luxuries, and ate the same food she served. One special way she and her sisters showed friendship was through accompanying people to their death. The ‘Kalighat Home for the Dying’ was founded with the idea that no one should die alone. Lifting people out of the gutters, she brought the most unwanted into a home of love for them to die in peace. Materially, she raised countless millions through her network of supporters without ever losing sight of the friendship necessary to be in solidarity with the poor. Finally, she advocated through her reception of various awards for people who had no voice. She understood that solidarity means helping the powerful to know the struggles of the weak and marginalized.

In all these ways Mother Teresa demonstrated how to be in solidarity with others based on our common humanity and our unity in Christ, who became poor so that we might become rich in his grace. We don’t have to take a dying stranger into our home, but chances are we will have opportunities to care for those who are dying. We don’t have to travel to Calcutta to serve in a soup kitchen or volunteer to tutor. In countless ways we can show solidarity with Christ in the poor.

-Fr. Stephen

Stain Glass Window Update

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:11:22 GMT

Stained Glass Window Update

At long last, brothers and sisters, we are installing the stained glass window above the sanctuary this coming week. The delay has been regrettable and unfortunate, but one can never predict exactly how long the fabrication and assembly of this large a window will take. Coupled with a last-minute vacancy on the team, the project was not done in time for Christmas. Nevertheless, we’re moving forward!

The team from Inspired Artisans and their associates will have the scaffolding assembled on Monday, the window installed on Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Thursday, and the scaffolding disassembled on Friday. So for those who come each weekend, you’ll experience a dramatic change from one weekend to the next. To view the pictures, please see our bulletin or Facebook page.

Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 16:27:51 GMT

Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity

TL;DR: Solidarity=working for common good based on common humanity.

As we dive into 2026, we continue our series on Catholic Social Teaching by explaining another foundational principle called solidarity. Unlike subsidiarity, most people think they have a definition of solidarity: a sense of compassion or feeling bad for someone struggling. Yet we’ll discover that the Church’s vision for solidarity goes far beyond the realm of feelings to the realm of action.

Solidarity is a moral virtue, meaning it’s a good action done repeatedly and developed as a habit. What is the good action? As St. John Paul II explains, “it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good” ( Sollicitudo Rei Socialis 38). The principle of solidarity is grounded in our belief that each person (regardless of differences) is a member of the human race, made in the image and likeness of the same God. As fundamentally social creatures, we depend on one another for countless things. If you recall, the common good are the preconditions in society that help people thrive: access to basic necessities of life (food, housing, healthcare, education, transportation, communication), a sound juridical and political order, peace and security, and environmental stewardship.

What gets in the way of the common good? The Church defines these obstacles as ‘structures of sins’. They are not reducible to an individual’s personal sins but act like a societal poison. The cycle of extreme poverty traps everyone except the extremely tenacious or the extremely lucky. Systems of injustice repeatedly belittle victims and ‘stack the deck’ against them. For many red-blooded Americans who have an entrepreneurial spirit, this theory of systemic sin seems wrong. Just work hard, pay your dues, and eventually you’ll achieve success, right? One thing is clear: Jesus Christ did not share this perspective on suffering. By becoming human, Christ united himself with all of humanity, especially those who suffer. He neither blamed the blind man (try harder) or his parents (raise him better) for his infirmity (Jn. 9:3). He constantly broke down obstacles to social integration through his healings. The disabled lived among the able, the sick among the healthy, the outcasts among the mainstream because of him. Jesus calls all his followers in every age to see his face in the “least of my brethren” (Mt. 25:31-46). Putting solidarity into practice means working habitually to improve the lives of others by pursuing the common good in Jesus’ name.

So how can we live out solidarity in practical ways? Material support, advocacy, and friendship. Supporting our new twinning partnership with St. Michael Charanga in Kenya was an excellent demonstration that Catholics in Kenya are part of our family and need access to key resources to thrive. Donating to the Bakhita House back in the spring achieved a similar goal. Beyond donations, advocating for the marginalized and the unloved is a powerful form of solidarity through ministries like Thrive For Life (convict rehabilitation) or Voices for Justice (legislative advocacy for children, families, and the poor). Finally, befriending the marginalized in whatever form (the working poor, the disabled, cultural or racial minorities) tangibly demonstrates the love of Christ in solidarity. We are one human race, and Christ’s solidarity with us must overflow into our determined pursuit of the common good for others.

-Fr. Stephen

Are New Year's Resolutions Helpful? Why?

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 15:10:05 GMT

Are New Year’s Resolutions Helpful? Why?

First, a word of immense thanks for the many volunteers who have helped to make this Advent and Christmas season prayerful, generous, and life-giving! From those who helped coordinate the Advent series to the Family Life Center to liturgical ministers of all varieties and Buildings and Grounds, everyone has pitched in generously and selflessly. May the Christmas season be a time of peace and goodwill for you and your families!

Switching gears, with New Year’s this week I wanted to reflect for a moment on the common modern practice of New Year’s resolutions. Are they helpful tools for self-improvement or wasted effort? Doing so brings us to the heart of Catholic liturgical and moral theology and the topic of worship and habits.

New Year’s resolutions (though not in name) have existed for 4000 years. Both Babylonians and Romans made solemn promises to their gods at the start of the new year, often repaying debts and returning borrowed farm equipment to get in their good graces. By making these sacrifices each year, pagans who knew little to nothing of the God of Israel understood that divine powers ruled their world and rewarded pious and just behavior. Early Christianity generally condemned the Roman New Year (January 1st) as a day of debauchery and excess. Their new year began with Advent and included periods of fasting, increased prayer, and moral conversion in preparation for Christmas. These penitential phases like Advent and Lent built on Christians’ existing daily and weekly practices like prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and Sunday worship. When the Empire adopted Christianity (or Christianity co-opted the Empire), the Church shifted the meaning of January 1st away from pagan excess and toward the Circumcision of Christ. This feast, celebrated eight days after Christmas, commemorated Jesus’ humanity, the first shedding of his blood, and his naming, connecting it to themes of spiritual rebirth and new beginnings. Tweaking the themes of the Roman New Year allowed Christians to live in the two calendars simultaneously, the Julian calendar for public events and the liturgical calendar for their worship.

So, after that ‘brief’ history, what’s your take on New Year’s resolutions, Fr. Stephen? Briefly again, while ancient and Christian practices surrounding the New Year emphasized worship of God (or the gods), most modern resolutions focus entirely on self and its improvement. More fitness, saving money, learning a new skill, you get the picture. These desires are the vestiges of Christian moral teaching on the importance of growing in virtue by repeated habitual actions toward that virtue. To become more temperate (moderation toward earthly pleasures), we must practice repeatedly denying ourselves the piece of cake, the TV show, the nightcap. To grow in prudence (right reason in action), we must practice prudent decision-making repeatedly. New Year’s resolutions can build on this dynamic by encouraging us to take up beneficial activities habitually and grow more into the best-version-of-ourselves. But if they’re not aimed at higher things like the worship of God and the love of neighbor, the amount of time, money, and attention we pay to them far outweighs their importance.

-Fr. Stephen

TL;DR on Resolutions: good if growing in virtue, meh if only self-focused.

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