El Filósofo

Notes from a Zenned-Out Catholic

Blog

  • Perseverance

    I’ve often been asked why I became Catholic. So often was I asked that late last year, I wrote a series of blog posts that detailed certain aspects of my intellectual journey towards the faith. This series remains unfinished, not because I have nothing else to say, but because I didn’t feel inspired to write… Keep reading

  • I Hate Sand

    I hope that everyone had their fair share of pancakes yesterday. Sadly, I didn’t even eat one: I spent my morning at Service Ontario and my evening at work. You might say that I was getting a head start on my Lenten penance, which actually began earlier today on this Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is… Keep reading

  • The Pursuit of Holiness

    What does it mean for something to be holy? As part of an inductive exercise meant to answer the question, a professor of mine asked the class to picture the holiest person they knew, and to describe how holiness was made present in them. I have been incredibly fortunate to have met many saintly people,… Keep reading

  • Unity in Diversity?

    As we say in the Creed, “I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” In the first semester of my MDiv, this idea of catholicity has repeatedly come up, which has forced me to consider its meaning more intensely. What does it mean for the Church to be catholic? The easy answer: “universal”. The… Keep reading

  • What is love? (Baby, don’t hurt me!)

    Recently I finished reading Neil Gaiman’s children’s horror novel, Coraline. I remember seeing the movie as a child, and suffice it to say, it left me petrified. I’ve watched many horror movies since, but it’s undeniable: that stop-motion horror flick still gives me the creeps. Personally, I found the movie far scarier than the book,… Keep reading

  • What I Learned in ’22

    Last last year, my spiritual director recommended I read God’s Voice Within written by Fr Mark Thibodeaux SJ. I practically devoured it, and since then I have been adamant in saying that this is the book I wish I’d read earlier in the year because, for me, 2022 was a year of discernment in epic… Keep reading

  • The City of God

    Recently, a friend and I were caught up in discussion about the temptation of many Christians to dismiss cities as hotbeds of degeneracy, cesspools of Satan, and wretched hives of scum and villainy. (That last one’s from Star Wars!) It would be much better, in many minds, to retreat into the country, and avoid such… Keep reading

  • Choosing Heaven

    This country was no use to him at all. Everyone here had ‘survived’ already. Nobody took the least interest in the question. There was nothing more to prove. His occupation was clean gone. Of course if he would only have admitted that he’d mistaken the means for the end and had a good laugh at… Keep reading

  • The Greatest Story Ever Told

    Merry Christmas, everyone! I’d be remiss if I didn’t reflect—today of all days—on the spirit of the season: that is, the coming of the Lord, our Saviour, when he was born on this day thousands of years ago in a manger. That is, after all, what Christmas is all about. For us men, and for… Keep reading

  • The Four Last Things: Heaven

    Advent is not only a time to prepare for Christmas: it is also a time to reflect on the Four Last Things (Death, Judgement, Hell, and Heaven) as I have done these past few weeks. I hope you’ve found these meditations helpful. And with only a few days until the Big One, I want to… Keep reading