Philoxenia
Philoxenia is the virtue of radical hospitality. It’s how we might find ourselves entertaining angels without knowing it. The lives of many Saints show us philoxenia in action. If you’re looking for a particular post, check the index.
Halloween hospitality
This morning’s Gospel was the story of a poor man named Lazarus and a rich man whose name we don’t know. Or, rather, we know his name all too well. It’s my name. It’s yours. We, all of us, are the rich man. And it’s such an interesting...
A table where strangers are welcome
I love words. Words are my toys, and they’re my tools. I think with them, I work with them, I play with them. I use them to interact with people, and I use them to understand the world. And while I’d like to say that I love all words equally, that’s not true. I have...
When names matter more than money
Bill is a huge fan of Steven King and Dean Koontz and Sue Grafton. He was reading Grafton’s J is for Justice, and at some point in the story, one of the characters makes vanilla and chocolate brownies. So, he told me, he decided to check and see if Grafton was on...
How to love strangers: Lessons in philoxenia
Too often, it feels like all of the news you hear is bleak and sad, filled with hopelessness, anger, and hate. The Church teaches us to defeat evil by cultivating the corresponding virtue. To overcome pride, we cultivate humility. To overcome sloth, we cultivate...
In this family, we don’t judge
During his life, the Uncondemning Monk was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad monk. His brother monks expected that, because of his many and grievous sins, the angels would take him from the monastery straight to Hell when he died. But that didn’t happen....THE MAGIC OF BOOKS
Share the joy of the Pascha through the magic of a book: Catherine's Pascha.
