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In a previous post , I began writing an exposition on the Song of Songs, one of the poetic books in the Bible. I stopped at the third verse. This entry is a continuation of that post, and it consists of verses four, five, six and seven of the first chapter of that Book. Christ and His Church: let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth As I previously noted, the Song of Songs is a poem written in a form of a romantic conversation between two lovers, the Bride and her Bridegroom. Figuratively, the poem explains the relationship between an individual soul (or the Church in its entirety) and Christ, “the fairest of all men.” Take me away with you – let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you! After tasting the profound love of her Bridegroom, the Bride now wishes to immerse herself further in that love. She implores her lover to “take” her “away with...

In my previous post , I discussed the correlations between Sartre’s Atheistic Existentialism and Shakespeare’s Macbeth . In this post, I would like to explore some Sartrean conceits in Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel, Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus . Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley  The novel consists of a frame narrative, whereby one story enfolds another, which enfolds yet another story. The first narrator is Robert Walton who is sailing towards the “northern pole” (Shelley 20).   On his way, he encounters Victor Frankenstein whose sledge is carried to Walton’s ship via an ice fragment.   Frankenstein is carried onto the ship, and after becoming acquainted with the captain of the ship, he begins telling his story in hopes of deterring Walton from his ambitious pursuit of “knowledge” and “dominion,” which he desires to bestow upon humanity (Shelley 24).   Frankenstein comes from a well-to-do family in Geneva. His goal in life is to gain “glory...

Jean-Paul Sartre is an atheist philosopher who has recently been labeled as the “ Apostle of Absurdity ” in a series of articles called  “Pillars of Unbelief” by Peter Kreeft , a professor of Philosophy at Boston College.  In his articles, Kreeft outlines the dangerous impact of six modern thinkers on contemporary culture.  Sartre’s name qualifies to be in this list, and rightly so.    Sartre’s version of atheism is called Existentialism because it sees life as the outcome of choices made by each individual in accordance with his will.  Sartre goes a little further than most 19 th century atheists.  For atheists such as Marx, Nietzsche and Strauss, the concept of God has a looming presence somewhere in the background despite all efforts done to suppress it.  This is clearly manifested in the manner in which they conceptualize humanity.  Throughout their writings, human beings are endowed with a preset nature that leaves the reader p...

The worst time of year for me is the month of June. The students are exhausted and agitated, and any task that has a touch of complexity will only be received with rolling eyes, heavy sighs, slow-moving pens (or pencils) and half-opened eyes. Worse yet is the constant awareness of the imminent separation after the last days of school. Suddenly, losing the habitual routine of a typical school day and the familiar faces that accompany that routine becomes an agonizing prospect.   A desire springs up in both students and teachers (maybe it’s just me and not all teachers). This desire seeks to imprint every last, precious moment spent together into the banks of eternal memory.   The most appealing thing about these last moments is that few thoughts are actually verbalized, few words are said; and yet, the meaning conveyed in these silent words is of such great magnitude that eyes are unable to hide it and tears are unwilling to ignore it.   The human soul begins to...

               His Excellency Sarhad Jammo, Bishop of St. Peter Chaldean Diocese in San Diego, California, has recently repeated what he heralds a “Chaldean Renaissance” taking shape, much to the surprise of what one would expect in the current state of affairs regarding Iraqi Christians . Before we look at some of the things that solidify an assertion that there is something such as a renaissance taking place amongst the Chaldean people and Church, it’s important to note why one would expect otherwise. In the opening paragraph, the Bishop addresses a certain pessimism that still hovers in the perceptions and feelings of many fellow Chaldeans or Christians of Iraq for that matter. He as anyone else is not slow to link this expression to the socio-political-economic conflict that has inflicted Iraq during the war and insurgency in the last 9 last years, decreasing in gravity yet latent nonetheless. The Bish...

To the untrained reader of Scriptures, rejecting the doctrine of Purgatory is the easiest thing to do.   However, in the 16 th century in response to the Protestant rebellion against the Church, the Council of Trent has infallibly declared that “there is a purgatory” (Sess. VI, cap. XXX; Sess. XXII cap.ii, iii), which makes this doctrine an article of faith that cannot be denied, altered or revoked. This, of course, does not mean that those of us who are seeking to understand the doctrine and further investigating its veracity are automatically excommunicated and must not partake of the Eucharist. Rather, it means that we must fervently seek and exhaust all possible venues from whence we might ascertain the truth.   After having done all that, when possibilities diverge each according to personal interpretation of Scriptures, we must then yield to the Magiesterium (the Pope in communion with the rest of the bishops around the world) whose authority far surpasses any o...

That is certainly what this young lady has done.  Mary Anne Marks is a graduate from Harvard.  She finished her undergrad in English and Latin Literature. She was chosen to give the Latin Salutary at the 2010 Harvard Ceremony (video below). After graduating from Harvard, she joined the Ann Arbor Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, the “Oprah Sisters.”   Currently, she is going into her second year of novitiate. The Ann Arbor Dominican order is growing massively due to its observance of orthodox Catholic teaching.  In fact, this seems to be the pattern of recent times whereby young people are seeking religious communities that are faithful to the teachings of the Magisterium. (You can watch a full interview with Mary Anne here ). During the past few decades, there has been a great confusion around Catholic and non-Catholic circles alike, about the importance and degree of honour attributed to the Consecrated life.  Many people believe t...