Today is the Feast of the Visitation, recounting the episode in Luke’s Gospel in which Mary, who’s just been told by the angel Gabriel she will give birth to Jesus, goes to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. In Luke 1, starting at the 39th verse, we’re told: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in … Continue reading Praying with Mary and Elizabeth
2018
2018: The choice before us
In his “Discourses,” Niccolo Machiavelli outlined a predictable cycle of power for republics. Machiavelli pointed to a gradual decline in republican virtue, culminating in a crucial point of decision. At that point, when virtue is all-but lost, the people must choose — either to drastically adjust course back to their founding principles, or else decline … Continue reading 2018: The choice before us