Easter and the Asceticism of Festivity

By Timothy O’Malley If you are friends with clergy or other pastoral workers, the first days of Easter are a time of catching one’s breath. Yes, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil require a g... Read More...

Is There Really a Secular Christmas?

By Timothy P. O’Malley A virtuous grumpiness has overtaken a certain kind of Christian. At least, we imagine that it’s virtuous. While the rest of the world has been consumed by a commercialized season, we C... Read More...

Tradition and a Tree

By Timothy P. O’Malley One of the great gifts of homeschooling — which our family began to practice during the pandemic — is time. We have time to wake up in the morning rather than rush out the door. We hav... Read More...

The Blood and the Name

By Timothy P. O’Malley On the eighth day after his birth, before receiving the “name above all names” (Phil. 2:9), Jesus was circumcised. The temptation is to spiritualize this first shedding of blood by ... Read More...

De-Normalizing the New Normal

By Timothy P. O’Malley When the nation “shut down” in March of 2020, the phrase “the new normal” assumed a degree of prominence in public discourse. The new normal meant working from home (at least for those... Read More...

Reading Contemplatively

While the decline of contemplative reading is a problem for the professor, it’s a threat to the Christian, especially those of us operating within a sacramental tradition.

A Creedal Posture

Christianity without a Creed risks becoming an endorsement of works righteousness, of human effort at being a decent person. With the Creed, Christianity becomes a remembering of what has been accomplished through Christ.