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Joy might seem an arbitrary thing in its coming and going. That joy is hard to figure out—both what it is and where it comes from—is no surprise, given the depths of the human heart. A question that often roils in my mind is whether I can simply choose to be joyful. I think the answer is affirmative and worth a brief consideration, while setting aside the wonderful and essential aspects of joy as a gift and a fruit. Indeed, choosing joy is surely a necessary aspect of receiving it as a gift. I come at this now from an elementary perspective: can I ‘choose joy’ when I am not ‘feeling’ joyful? One basic truth expounded by the wise can shed a very encouraging light and offer practical direction. Joy, says Thomas Aquinas, is when our will rests or delights in the presence of some good that we ...

Share via: Long before cowboy churches entered the Protestant landscape of the United States, one quite well known cowboy made his journey into the Catholic Church. William Frederick Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, was one the most famous figures of the American Old West. Gaining his moniker due to his work as a buffalo hunter after the American Civil War, Cody would go on to create Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, a circus-type stage show portraying a version of life in the American West. This show would eventually become a world-wide phenomenon, traveling across the U.S. and Europe, and included Native Americans invited by Cody to tour with him to provide an accurate representation of their heritage. William Cody was not an overly religious man for much of his life, though he grew up in a r...

A suggestion by an Eastern Rite bishop that Catholics in the United States once again give up eating meat on Fridays throughout the year has drawn interest from more than a dozen bishops in the country. Several bishops told the Register they hope the U.S. bishops discuss the idea at their next gathering in June 2025. But an early canvas suggests a renewed practice, if it occurs, might look different from the Church’s previous rule, which forbade Catholics from eating meat on almost all Fridays of the year under pain of mortal sin. Several bishops told the Register they don’t want to go that route. “A voluntary return to an act of penance, for instance meatless Fridays, would be an opportunity for Catholics not only to demonstrate their shared commitment to care for God’s creation, but also...

Obadiah, the crux of the matter, and Bible Bees Skip to content Pillar subscribers can listen to JD read this Pillar Post here: The Pillar TL;DR Hey everybody, Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate today the holy prophet Obadiah, and you’re reading The Tuesday Pillar Post. Obadiah, who lived in the 6th century B.C., authored the shortest text included as a book of the Old Testament, a warning to the Edomite kingdom that a betrayal of Jerusalem during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege would lead to its destruction.  The prophecy of Obadiah is fewer than 500 words. You could read the whole thing on your morning coffee break. Without too much work, you could probably memorize it, if you wanted to say that you have an entire scriptural book committed to memory (assuming you’re not this girl, Anastasia...

At any time, we have a tendency I argue to overlook something unique about our human condition. I’m referring to our ability to recognize the presence of someone (Incarnational character) and greet them with the simplest yet most profound of human gestures, a joyful smile-filled “hello.” This is what I would describe as an Incarnational gesture, i.e., a gesture in the name of Jesus Christ because our actions are meant to reflect the words and deeds of Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior, and King. Sacred Scripture provides us with several joyful “Incarnational gestures” such as Jesus’ greeting to the Apostles and disciples on the Road to Emmaus when upon celebrating the Mass the Apostle’s eyes were opened and then Jesus disappeared.[1] The greeting between Mary and Elizabeth led John the B...