The Nature of Victory
As Christ prepares His disciples for His passion and death, His followers still do not quite grasp the reality of Jesus’ teachings. They are still thinking like men, motivated by their ambitions of position and power. They have not yet risen above earthly wisdom to the true wisdom that comesContinue Reading
A People Set Apart
In recent years icons have enjoyed a growing popularity. Iconography workshops abound and many people have them in their homes as devotional images. But this has also led to much discussion about what an icon is and isn’t. Differences in style aside, one thing that all proper icons have inContinue Reading
To Hear and To Speak
The healing of the deaf man with a speech impediment is told only in the Gospel according to St. Mark. Why was this? Besides the recounting of a miracle, what message was Mark trying to convey to his readers? Saint Mark addressed his Gospel to gentile converts living in RomeContinue Reading
In The World But Not Of The World
“Care for orphans and widows in their affliction and… keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27) St. James illustrates for us two paths of spirituality that we must keep in balance. On the one hand we should involve ourselves in our world to help our brothers and sisters inContinue Reading
Ask For An Explanation
From the beginning there were those who could not accept the offering of love and family God extends to His people. Many will follow, but only up to the point where they are challenged. Joshua challenged the Israelites to choose whom they will serve. Jesus challenged His followers with hisContinue Reading
Are We Wise Or Foolish
Wisdom invites the simple and those without understanding to the banquet of eternal life. But how can the unwise comprehend what is offered to them? In a like manner Jesus offers Himself as food for eternal life and is confronted with ignorance. His invitation is understandable only in the lightContinue Reading
Beauty is God’s handwriting
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing. ~Ralph Waldo EmersonContinue Reading
Coat of Arms, Bishop Malone
On August 10, 2012, Bishop Richard J. Malone was installed as the fourteenth bishop of Buffalo N.Y design: Paul Sullivan rendering: Lawrence KlimeckiContinue Reading
Why Artists Must Serve Their Community
I recently came across an online discussion that compared opera in America, which is largely privately funded (i.e. funded by its audience) and opera in Germany which is largely publicly (government) funded. The point was that opera in Germany seemed more free to criticize society and government while opera inContinue Reading
Saint Lawrence and the Holy Grail
© Lawrence Klimecki As the treasurer of the early Church, guardian of the church’s material wealth, it is a logical conclusion that Lawrence would have been responsible for safeguarding the cup Our Lord used at the “Last Supper.”Author Janice Bennett explores this idea in her book, St. Laurence and the Holy Grail.Continue Reading