IPF 501: Christian Prayer and Virtue

Class Notes & Outlines & Conferences Vulnerability as a Place of Divine Encounter by Deacon James Keating Vulnerability: The Weakness Needed to Stay in Communion by Deacon James Keating Articles (click titles for summaries - * favourite … [Read more...]

Prayer: A Personal Response to God’s Presence by Armand M. Nigro, S.J.

(click here for full text) My summary notes: Prayer is a personal response to God's loving presence. What God wants to say to us is far more important for us than anything we may have to say to Him. And God longs to speak and communicate Himself to … [Read more...]

“The Weight of Glory” in the Letters of Peter

The word "glory" comes up 14 times in the Petrine Letters. Having recently read The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis, I thought I would try to draw some parallels between these two letters.  Lewis says that "glory" is one of the five promises of … [Read more...]

Sheed on Mystery

In his book, A Map of Life, Frank Sheed prefaces his discussion on the mysteries of faith with a clear outline on the nature of mystery: What mystery is NOT Mystery "does not mean a truth of which we cannot know anything... it is not to be … [Read more...]

16 Precepts for Acquiring Knowledge by St. Thomas Aquinas

The following is a letter St. Thomas Aquinas wrote to Brother John. Some say it is not an authentic letter of Aquinas, but nevertheless, based upon reading A.G. Sertillanges' The Intellectual Life, this letter still serves a great … [Read more...]

Chesterton on the Trinity

A classic Chestertonian principle that should guide our study on the Doctrine of the Trinity is the importance of maintaining mystery for the sake of health: As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create … [Read more...]

Chesterton on Martyrdom vs. Suicide

In the 5th chapter of Orthodoxy, The Flag of the World, Chesterton talks about the difference between martyrdom and suicide. Martyrdom: A martyr is a man who cares so much for something outside him, that he forgets his own personal life. Wants … [Read more...]

Chesterton on Childlike Wonder

Childlike wonder is something most of us - if not all of us - have lost. Chesterton helps us to see the importance of regaining this childlike wonder. First. Why we have lost our childlike wonder? 1: We have forgotten who we are. Every man has … [Read more...]

Letter of St. James

Author: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Jas 1:1). Uncertain who James is. Some possibilities: Could be an author that wrote pseudonymously—that is, in the name of James. Scholars do not think this letter reads like a … [Read more...]

Chesterton on Humility

In the 3rd chapter of Orthodoxy, Chesterton talks about humility in the modern world. He describes how there is "a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it is practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of … [Read more...]