Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
At the recommendation of a friend, I recently read the book “The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian World.” The author Rod Dreher argues that in the culture war between orthodox (small o) Christians and modern secular culture, Christians have already lost and that they should exercise “The Benedict Option” in order to faithfully
Hail Mary full of grace, my Catholic month is over! To be truthful, I’m actually a little bummed it’s over. I benefited quite a bit from going to Mass and participating in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Here’s my assessment of my Catholic month. Love/Compassion For my Catholic month, my goal was to become a more
This week was mostly a good one. I did have a weird mood swing on Day 10, but otherwise the week was tranquil. Yesterday’s ice bath was warmer than usual, but I still suffered through the uncontrollable shivering afterwards. In last week’s weekly re-cap, I discussed not sweating the small stuff and how you could
Mass I went to my first evening Mass last night at 10 PM. On a weeknight, I’m usually in bed by then so I hope God gives me extra points for my good deed. I’m glad I did. It was energizing, and a nice way to cap off the night. This particular Mass is held
Over the past five days I’ve been working through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. The exercises ask you to read and pray on a passage from the Bible, and then reflect on a few specific questions. What does this look like when I do it? The night before I am supposed to conduct a specific exercise,
Work and career are areas of my life I’ve struggled with for quite a while. My first big career idea didn’t work out, and then I just kept bouncing around to random jobs and ventures. It’s comforting to know that Saint Ignatius, (founder of the Jesuits), also had a non-linear career path. He was a
Yesterday’s spiritual exercise asked us to read the introduction to the Spiritual Exercises, which is titled the “the first principle and foundation.” It states that humans are meant to “praise, reverence, and serve God our lord” and as a result, “save their souls.” It then goes on to state that everything else in the world
David Brooks wrote an excellent op-ed piece in reaction to the Atlantic article The Confidence Gap. The Confidence Gap authors makes the argument that while there is some inequality between men and women in the workplace due to societal attitudes and such, much of it can be attributed to women’s lack of self-confidence relative to
In my third week of Judaism, I learned that the factors that bring people into a community are complex and nuanced. Some people grow up with Judaism and are always observant. Others become more involved with a Synagogue as they “settle” down. Some seek the solace of a community during a particularly difficult time in
Mass This past week I, unfortunately, wasn’t able to attend Mass everyday as I planned. Georgetown University was on Spring Break and wasn’t holding the 10 PM Mass that I usually go to during the week. This did give me an opportunity to attend a very interesting Mass at another church I’ve been attending. In