Faith, in the Christian tradition, is a theological virtue that comes from God as a gift. So any baptized person has received this gift of faith. The gift of faith is a habit that is still present in us even when we are not using it. If I have the habit of playing the piano, I remain a piano player even when sleeping or swimming. So the gift of Christian faith remains in a person whether or not a person is at the moment using this gift or even sensing this gift.  Indeed, Christian faith is a bit like citizenship. To be born in the United States is to be a U.S. citizen, which remains so until a person explicitly renounces citizenship. A good citizen votes and does not break laws. But even a citizen who does not vote and does break laws remains a citizen. So too, Christian faith as a habit infused by God remains with us even in our ups and downs. This understanding of faith does not depend upon our passing feelings or any emotional sense of closeness with God.   Indeed, t

The Christian response to sin is always necessary, but it need not be dire. For even before we turn back to God, he draws near to us, the sinner. And, if we allow him, God can use even our failings and faults to his glory and for our good. Romans 8:28 says that “all things work for good for those who love God,” and St. Thomas says this includes even our sins, for “God makes all things work together for their good to the extent that if they deviate and stray from the path, he even makes this contribute to their good.” God’s power to create from nothing is the same power able to bring good (a real something) out of sin (a privation, a nothing).  For when we rebel against the Lord, his grace can still use those moments to have us rise from our sins in greater humility and cautious awareness of how self-centered we really are. This renewed awareness should result also in a greater wisdom in knowing our constant need for God’s gr

On Ash Wednesday 2004, the eagerly-awaited movie The Passion of the Christ hit movie screens—but hit its viewers much harder. With ashen foreheads, Catholics across America cringed in their theater seats as they watched the portrayal of the intense whipping, beating, and stabbing of their Savior. Many in the audience openly wept as they peered at the screen and saw teams of Roman soldiers thrash Jesus’ body with whips with metal hooks. The scene was violent, portraying the Roman soldiers covered in Jesus’ blood, with only the physical exhaustion of the Roman soldiers finally slowing the assault. Most moviegoers had never seen any sort of brutality—real or imagined—like this. The two-hour depiction of Jesus’ passion and death proved emotionally exhausting for the audience. A movie reviewer for the Evening Standard accounted that the cinematic “assault was so sustained and voyeuristic that most of the audience I saw the film

As we approach the unapproachable God, we have to pass through his Ten Commandments. We examine our conscience to unearth ways we have said “no” to God. This is a practice that should be done often, certainly weekly, if not daily! To know our sins is not easy and to name them is even more difficult, so it takes constant practice. It also requires the cultivation of humility and self-knowledge to be able not only to say, “I have greatly sinned” but “here is how and why.” St. Ignatius of Loyola devised a way of examining our soul that moved away from looking only at the sinful thoughts, words, and deeds of our day. Ignatius’s introspection begins not with sins but with gratitude and the cataloging of daily blessings. This manner of praying later came to be called an Examination of Consciousness, to distinguish it from what was done before the sacrament of reconciliation. A different contour arises in our souls when we look primarily at