Recent content by NoelFitz

What is spirituality? Does it differ from religion? Nowadays is spirituality defined as a consideration of personal meaning in art, nature, ideas, higher powers, religion and/or God? Many definitions and views exist, reminding one of the conversation between Alice and Humpty Dumpty. When I...

In the Gloria one sees “we praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory”. What is the precise meaning of these five words ‘praise’, ‘bless’, ‘adore’, ‘glorify’ and ‘thank’ in this context and are the meanings clearly all different? I read that...

I enclose below some of my favo(u)rite quotations from the Hebrew Bible. Would you like to submit here some quotations that you particularly like, especially from the New Testament? Thanks, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might...

I learned in school, following St Thomas Aquinas, that there are three supernatural virtues - faith, hope and charity. These are often called the theological virtues and recently ‘love’ is used place of ‘charity’. These virtues reflect St Paul – ‘So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but...

Recently I have been reading/studying/praying the psalms and have a number of queries. In a recent thread I asked about the use in the NT of the Septuagint psalms, but I have other issues which I would like disciussed in CAs. In following my interest the principal book I use is Walter...

Greeting! I would be very grateful for help in resolvong s problem I have. I have read that the psalms quoted in the New Testamemnt are mainly (85%) from the Greek OT, Septuagint (LXX), and not from the Hebrew Bible. Is this so? If it is so then when Jesus quotes from the Psalms did he use the...

I read Matt Nelson’s article ‘St Anselm’s God’ with interest and care, but not complete understanding. It reminded me of St J H Newman’s ‘Tamworth Reading Room’. To most men argument makes the point in hand only more doubtful, and considerably less impressive. After all, man is not a reasoning...

Is the modern world the present contemporary one, or are we living in a postmodern age? I read that the postmodern age was in the 1980s and 1990s, a time noted for skepticism and the rejection of idealism. I wonder. The modern age was when modernism, a movement in philosophy, art and criticism...

I was impressed, encouraged and inspired by Eric Sammons article on ‘Sharing the Good News When the Daily News Is Bad’. Reading it I thought of the Church being described as ‘A Holy Church for Unholy People’. Sammons concludes that even in difficult times we should do our best to make converts...

All have gone astray; all alike are worthless; there is not one who does good, there is not even one (Rom 3:12). I have problems, and in a number of posts I have expressed them. They all seem linked together. Basically, if God is good, and all he created is good, how do people end up in hell...

Some days ago a friend sent me a video concerning Dorothy Day. It was very moving and powerful, telling the story of a wonderful person, who in these difficult times has relevance. It showed that the Catholic Church is serious when it believes in the forgiveness of sins and the great work one...

Some time ago I read a secular psychological article about how to be happy. The advice was to love and be thankful. Meditating and remembering good and beautiful things before going to sleep was recommended. It seemed like religion without a higher being. Are we all basically religious? The...

I have seen a number of posts complaining about the current state of the US, considering it hostile to Catholics and secular. With respect and charity I disagree, America has never been so welcoming and supportive of Catholicism as it is now, and Catholics should acknowledge this and be mutually...

I am concerned with the apparent rise of individualism and nationalism, rather than the common good and community, in the world today, perhaps illustrated by the code in the US of ‘Make America Great Again’. I fear the present world view may resemble the start of the 20th century, before the...

Today is St Patrick’s day, but unlike any I have ever known. Today pubs, restaurants, and theatres are all closed in Ireland. There is no parades and the streets are almost completely empty and huge numbers have lost their jobs. It is a sombre day, but perhaps one suitable for reflection on what...