Ascetical Theology

3 09, 2015

Offertory

By Father David Nix|2015-09-04T14:01:44+00:00September 3rd, 2015|Theology|

A friend recently e-mailed me and he said that reading my blog is "like drinking sparkling water while pulling nose hairs." Well, this is going to be one of those sparkling water ones without the pulling of nose hairs. Despite the seemingly-boring topic of this post, the Offertory of the Mass, I’m going to make a tall promise: What I show you on the Offertory of the Mass will transform your weekly worship into something new, interpersonal, meaningful and even thrilling if you enact it, as Mega-Churchy as that promise sounds. The offertory is the part of the Mass after the homily when the priest prepares the altar for the sacrifice. In sung Masses, the offertory prayer is sung. In the sung Latin [...]

2 09, 2015

Trust or Virtue?

By Father David Nix|2015-09-02T23:53:05+00:00September 2nd, 2015|Theology|

Salvation is a free gift that we receive from God at our baptism (1 Pt 3:21.) However, for salvation to be realized, we must cooperate in a life of virtue (Mt 24:13). Maybe we ask the question: Does virtue come from God or from me? Even the gift of virtue or discipline comes from God. While some Catholics try to earn their way to heaven without any trust in Jesus Christ, other Catholics commit the opposite heresy of “once saved always saved,” which usually leads to a life of laziness. This post is not a Scriptural apologetic for the Catholic view of salvation. It’s a short writing where I look [...]

23 08, 2015

9+1 Little Lepers

By Father David Nix|2019-04-10T16:18:30+00:00August 23rd, 2015|Podcasts, Sermons, Talks|

Homily from the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, 2015, Traditional Latin Mass calendar:

2 08, 2015

The Pharisee and the Publican

By Father David Nix|2019-04-10T16:18:43+00:00August 2nd, 2015|Sermons, Talks|

10th Sunday after Pentecost, old calendar

16 05, 2015

Pilgrimage 1 of 5

By Father David Nix|2015-08-31T19:16:36+00:00May 16th, 2015|Theology|

This is a series not on my current pilgrimage, but on the Theology of Pilgrimage. A priest-friend from Denver once said to me: "Pilgrimage isn't just another analogy for the Christian life. Pilgrimage is the reality of the Christian life." That may not sound too profound at first, but the more I meditated on the Old and New Testament, the more I realized that every book of the Bible fulfilled these words. It is no wonder that he had walked the Camino a few times. I'm in Spain now, but when I wrote this post, I was flying from India to Spain. Flying over the Red Sea, I look at the computer [...]

22 04, 2015

Consolation versus Desolation

By Father David Nix|2015-05-02T15:34:10+00:00April 22nd, 2015|Theology|

Flying over India last night, I found that every time I lifted my heart to God, I was given tremendous peace and consolation, especially when I thought of St. Francis Xavier bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to that land 37,000 feet below me, dark at 3am and barely alit with the poor lights of over a billion people. I wondered why this joy didn't happen every time I prayed! That is what this post is about: Why we enjoy God in prayer some days, and then fear our time in prayer on other days. I just finished offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the tomb of Mother [...]