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By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. UNITY: A DREAM LOST TO SIN In the liturgy for the Vigil of Pentecost, the book of Genesis describes a time when humankind spoke one language, and everyone knew the meanings of every word. In our pride we built a tower we said would reach into the heavens, but God […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. WHAT IS SLOTH? Our dictionary defines sloth as “an aversion to work or exertion; laziness; indolence.” These words reasonably arouse the scorn of anyone committed to making a productive contribution to society. They may likewise excite our indignation when we observe a co-worker or family member failing to bear a […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. THE GIFT, AND COST, OF HUMAN SEXUALITY Several years ago, when we considered the Sixth Commandment, we observed that human sexuality is an immense blessing, one that comes with the correspondingly high price of our human responsibility. The first act of this responsibility is to remember that man and woman […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. A CHANGE OF DIRECTION In our last reflection we observed that two of the Church’s early theologians, John Cassian and Gregory the Great, taught that the Capital Sins are either spiritual or physical. Among the former are pride, envy, and anger, and avarice, or greed. In this reflection we will […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. AVARICE: SPIRITUAL SIN OR PHYSICAL? When we consider the sins that are the sad outcome of our fallen humanity, we can distinguish among them in a number of ways. The Church Fathers, John Cassian and Gregory the Great, saw the Capital Sins as either spiritual or physical. Among the former […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. ANGER AND OUR SOCIAL RELATIONS In his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes, If you are angry, let it be without sin. The sun must not go down on your wrath; do not give the devil a chance to work on you. These words are part of a larger […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. THE GOOD OF SENSATION Our sensitive appetite, that part of our nature that governs our physical feelings, directs our longing for the good things we lack. Our Catechism employs a very concrete example when it mentions our appetite’s turning us toward food when we are hungry, or toward warmth when […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. PRIDE REVISITED In our last reflection we considered the sin of Pride, which St. Gregory the Great named the father and foundation for all other sins. So fundamental was the place of pride in St. Gregory’s moral theology, he did not bother to number it among the Capital sins. Rather, […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. Our recent reflections have considered God’s commandments, as well as the immense gift He has extended to us in this Jubilee Year of Mercy. Our consideration of the commandments led us to reflect upon some specific actions which promote or obstruct our progress on the way to God’s kingdom; our […]

By Father Reginald Martin, O.P. THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY As we drew our last reflection to a close we identified the corporal works of mercy as feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, healing the sick, and visiting the imprisoned. Some of these are doubtless beyond our capacity, […]