The Narrow Gate Blog

This article first appeared at: stpaulcenter.com The description of a Godly woman in Proverbs provides a table of contents for a topical Bible study for women using a wide range of Scripture.My first study, Chosen and Cherished: Biblical Wisdom for Your Marriage, focuses on the core relationship of a family—marriage. My newest study, Graced and Gifted: Biblical Wisdom for the Homemaker’s Heart, centers on the tasks of making a house a home, a place of beauty and order, where the needs of our lov …

This article first appeared at: spiritualdirection.com My co-workers at the large Christian Apostolate where I worked as Director of Strategy Development used to call me “Nuke.”That’s because I was always one irritation away from going off, raining emotional shrapnel on everyone in the vicinity. In some ways, my rage was working for me. Professionally, I was challenging and piercingly to the point to those in authority. I was solving problems and saving the company millions of donor dollars. Bel …

This article first appeared at: stpaulcentre.com When a man and a woman discern the vocation of marriage, they move from a private promise to each other—I am my beloved’s, and he is mine—to a public engagement. They approach the Church, at least six months before their hoped-for wedding date, to formalize their commitment. They prepare by learning more about what the Church teaches regarding marriage, for “marriage introduces one into an ecclesial order, and creates rights and duties in the Chur …

This article first appeared at: stpaulcentre.com By Dr Scott Hahn with Brandon McGinleyEverything that is true of so-called secular societies is true of so-called secular individuals. To refuse to submit oneself to the living God—to refuse to acknowledge, adore, and serve Him as justice demands—is not a neutral choice. It does not preserve one’s objectivity or intellectual freedom; it does not liberate the soul. One of the most destructive pieces of catechesis taught by modern secular liberalism …

This article first appeared at: catholic.com The (Catholic) Eucharist appears in a striking and mystical way in the book of Revelation.On Easter morning, two disciples of Jesus are on their way from Jerusalem back to Emmaus. They might be husband and wife, but the text doesn’t say for certain. St. Luke names only one of the two: Cleopas. If they are a married couple, they might be Jesus’ aunt and uncle. (Hegesippus, a Christian writer from the second century, references “the Lord’s uncle, Clopas …