Virtuous Catholic Men

Honor your parents. Jesus did. As in all things, Christ Jesus models perfection in fulfilling the commandment to honor thy father and mother. The Catholic man finds in the life of Jesus, and in the Lord’s reverence of Mary and Joseph, a model for honoring God the Father, honoring his earthly parents and a model […]

reconcile with your brothers (And avoid hellfire!) I do not have any biological brothers, but I do have 5 sons.  In my fraternal poverty (biological speaking), however, I have learned its value, learning through fraternal bonds with other men how important brotherhood is.  And, conversely, seeing the battles and fights that arise between my sons

deeper than censorship Scripture is abundant with admonitions to guard our tongue but perhaps the most sobering admonition comes in the Epistle of James: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. For we all make many mistakes, and if any

The Poverty of Marian devotion Fulton J. Sheen once said that Marian devotion is so central to Catholic practice and history that one could say that being Catholic is to be devoted to Mary. Yet, we know this isn’t so. Tainted, perhaps by our Protestant friend’s views of Mary, we can share a suspicion that

Of Pickup Lines and occasional temptation There’s a classic pickup line that, I presume, was actually used by someone, somewhere. Although, I’ve only heard it in comical, cynical, or cliché scenes in movies. That line is, “What is a nice woman like you doing in a place like this?” The question is loaded. (Imagining the

WHat’s wrong with the ‘pursuit of happiness’ Classical philosophy begins with the idea that each and every man desires one simple thing: happiness. All that he does he does because he thinks it is good for him, that it will bring happiness. That’s pretty easy to agree with. The harder thing, however, is the path.

Do You Have What it Takes? Do you have what it takes? This is one of the central questions of manhood. Perhaps your personal version of it is a bit more nuanced, “do I have what it takes to do my job/school, ask this girl out or eventually to marry me, to be a father?”

Adoration as an Anecdote to Sentimental Advertising I turn down silly love songs on the radio for the same reason I turn down advertisements: they too often attempt to bypass the will and intellect and misuse the emotions. The silly love song, perhaps, is merely overstating some of the feelings of young love to make

Henry Adams, the Virgin, and the Gift of Self The force of charity is often lost on the modern American man. In American culture, even amongst Catholics, charity gets reduced to the dollars one puts in the collection basket or gives to a favorite (or annoyingly persistent) charitable organization. Sometimes, charity breaks free of this

The single dual act of charity The liturgical rites of the Church can be strikingly formative. I once visited a Benedictine monastery and attended one of the sung offices of the monks. I was particularly moved witnessing the monks, as they entered and exited their stalls, bow first to the altar and then, two by