Fighting a Losing Battle We cannot live in turmoil and at war with our existence, with who we are, and how life is and how it has come to us. Romano Guardini puts it clearly,…
Be yourself “Be yourself.” You might have heard this saying before. It’s normal for people in the world to think this means creating your person or identity and doing whatever you want…
What do sled dogs have to do with me? Segundo Llorente was a Jesuit priest who spent 40 years as a missionary in some of the remotest parts of Alaska. It’s hard to imagine what it must have been…
"Self-care" Part II In the previous article, we examined the dangers of the idea of “self-care,” as defined by the world—taking “care” of yourself by indulging in materialistic pleasures, or even in engaging…
"Self-care" Part I “Self-care.” You may have heard of this term, which is pretty popular in society today and even promoted within institutions in the Church. So what is “self-care”? Simply put, it…
Youth: this is for you This is going to be brief. I hope that each reader will take it as something addressed to him or her personally, and encourage them to search for what is…
Will: an abstract idea I am more and more convinced that we are a generation in which our will and many other things are affected to the extent that we do not know how…
Identity Crisis “We shall never completely know ourselves if we don’t strive to know God.” - St. Teresa of Avila Whether we want to admit it or not, our identity is influenced by…
Inside Out: Love Doing the Good There was once an eleven-year-old boy whose teacher at school described him as “good looking and alert – a really smart boy.” But who also explained, “But the bad thing…
OUT OF CONTROL? How to deal with feelings From the time we are really little, we notice how certain feelings make us miserable and we think about how we would like to avoid them. That’s the reason behind…
The Dangers of Sadness “Remove sorrow far from you, for sorrow has destroyed many, and there is no profit in it.” (Sirach 30:23) One of the worst things about sadness is the majority of us…
Self pity and virtue The Great Black Hole: Self-PityThe downward spiral of self-pity leads to an authentic black hole of bitterness. The Problem: Many people succumb rather frequently to sleeping in “just a little longer.” …
Choosing Your Attitude During World War II, the psychiatrist Viktor Frankl spent several years of his life confined in different concentration camps, including even the most feared ones: Auschwitz and Dachau. After his liberation…
The phlegmatic temperament – “Let’s do things the easy way.” GENERAL DESCRIPTION The phlegmatic is rarely affected by things in general and so, the reaction is usually weak and slow. The impressions received usually last for only a short time…
The choleric temperament – “Let’s do things my way.” GENERAL DESCRIPTION A person of choleric temperament easily and strongly reacts to things. The impression caused also usually lasts for a long time. This is the kind of temperament that…
The melancholic temperament – “Let’s do things the correct way.” GENERAL DESCRIPTION The melancholic temperament reacts weakly and slowly to things. However, if repeated, impressions are usually strong and long lasting, so much so that they don’t usually forget easily. …
The sanguine temperament - “Let’s do things the fun way.” GENERAL DESCRIPTIONA person of sanguine temperament has quick and strong reactions to just about anything, although they’re short in duration and easily forgotten. This is one of the extroverted temperaments. GOOD…
Introduction to the temperaments A sculptor can’t create a work of art unless he has a certain material to work with. Once he has the material he needs, he goes molding it, shaping it,…
Passions The passions are our drives or energy. Energy leads us to action. We have to learn to control them because uncontrolled energy can end up being very harmful. Just like…
Imagination Your imagination is the ability or disposition to mentally reproduce, combine, and create images or ideas. It helps your creativity to grow and allows you to visualize ideas or ideals. Our…
Feelings Our feelings are the response of our emotions to a stimulus. For example, we are pleased to have a friend come and visit us, but it displeases us to be…
Feelings, imagination, and passions In the world in which we live, we are surrounded by all kinds of people: from those who are able to fight for great ideals and achieve them, to those…
Get training! Behind any great athlete, you’ll find a story of intense training and goal-setting. American swimmer Katie Ledecky (also a practicing Catholic, by the way) won her first gold medal at…
Ability to love Another thing that makes us different and superior to the rest of creation (animals, birds, etc.) is our ability to love thanks to our freedom. In fact, a creature that…
How the Faculties Work Together Our faculties, intelligence and will, always work together:- Our intelligence allows us to discover a good (something good or something that appears to be good).- Our will moves us to…
Freedom Our freedom is what allows us to act or not to act (…that is the question), to do or not do something, according to what our intelligence thinks and what…
Will We not only think, we also “want.” We look for what attracts us. The will is the faculty that gives us the capacity to “move ourselves” towards a good that…
Intelligence Intelligence is what allows us to think, to look for and find the truth using our mind and reason. Thanks to this capacity, we can understand and learn, imagine and…
Get to Know Yourself People always say, "New year, new start," but why do we always have to start over? Why do we always end up falling into the same things? If we are…
Lukewarmness Spiritual sicknesses: LukewarmnessHave you been slacking off or become bored in your spiritual life? Have you lost all enthusiasm to fight against your laziness, your moments of “I don’t feel…
The Caboose Syndrome Do you have a strong lazy streak? Do you prefer letting others do all the work? Do you usually benefit from other peoples' efforts? Do you let others make all…
The Slinky Syndrome Have you ever played with a slinky when you were little… or maybe not so little? Have you noticed how its usual tendency is to collapse in on itself? You…
