Stephen Beale
Catholic Exchange
Providence, RI, United States
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Past articles by Stephen:
Thomas Becket, a Great Medieval Martyr
The murder of St. Thomas Becket may be the most shocking martyrdom in the medieval Church. First, there’s the location—the heart of the cathedral of Canterbury, hence the title of T.S. Eliot’s play on the martyrdom (Murder in the Cathedral). Then, there’s the man who was martyred: Thomas Becket, not only an archbishop, but formerly […] → Read More
Why Do We Celebrate Martyrs at Christmas?
It’s the season of joy and the time of good tidings, so why is the liturgical calendar for Christmas packed with so many martyrdoms? Take a look at the calendar. The day after Christmas is the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, who was stoned to death. The following Monday marks […] → Read More
What the First Story of Prayer in the Bible Teaches Us
The Hebrew word for prayer, palal (pronounced: paw-lal’), does not appear until sometime later, in Genesis 20:7. The word is spoken by God in a dream to Abimelech urging him to return Abraham’s wife so that Abraham might pray for him. Abimelech does this and Abraham prays as prophesied 10 verses later. But it is […] → Read More
In Jesus, the ‘Unapproachable Light’ Approaches Us
The phrase should surprise us because one of the main points of the whole New Testament is that God has become ‘accessible’ or ‘approachable’ to us through Jesus Christ. He is, as St. Paul says, the ‘image of the invisible God’ (Colossian 1:15). In Jesus, the divine Word became flesh—it became visible, tangible, and therefore […] → Read More
Seven Saints for Pentecost
As the Feast of Pentecost approaches, here are seven saints to help you deepen your devotion to the Holy Spirit. 1. The Virgin Mary In Catholic devotion we tend to focus—as we should—on the relationship between Mary and her divine Son. But Mary also has a special and unique relationship with the third person of […] → Read More
Why Do We Celebrate Martyrs at Christmas?
It’s the season of joy and the time of good tidings, so why is the liturgical calendar for Christmas packed with so many martyrdoms? Take a look at the calendar. The day after Christmas is the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, who was stoned to death. The following Monday marks […] → Read More
The Importance of Cultivating Silence During Advent
At Christmas, God speaks to us in a way far more profound and mysterious than any other kind of speech known to man: He communicates to us through the Word made flesh. The task of Advent, which is just weeks away, is to prepare for hearing this Word of God. I would like to suggest […] → Read More
Seven Ways that the Catholic Church is Catholic
Catholic is a term borrowed from an ancient Greek word meaning universal. This universality is one of the four marks of the true Church as expressed in the creed. But just how is the Catholic Church universal? One immediately thinks of the authority of the popes and ecumenical councils, which are global, whether recognized or […] → Read More
How to Think of the Holy Spirit As a Divine Person
The difficulties we have in approaching the Holy Spirit as person reminds us of the mystery and absolute otherness of God. → Read More
What This Heroic Old Testament Virgin Teaches Us About Mary
A visit by one of the seven archangels would have been scary enough. But the words he spoke were far more terrifying: the Holy Spirit was to come to her, the power of God would overshadow her, and she would give birth to the Son of God. To all this Mary responded: “May it be … → Read More
The Meaning of the Christian’s Call to “Hope Against Hope”
St. Paul’s phrase that we ought to ‘hope against hope’ is both enigmatic and encouraging. Here is the context as it appears in the Douay-Rheims translation: Who against hope believed in hope; that he might be made the father of many nations, according to that which was said to him: So shall thy seed be … → Read More
7 Unexpected Ways the Old Testament Prefigures Mary
As Catholics, we are familiar with how Mary is the New Eve — as well as the many ways that the other women of ancient Israel look forward to the Mother of God. But Mary is also prefigured in some unexpected parts of the Old Testament. Here are seven of them. Noah’s ark. We tend … → Read More
Prayer to the Saints Is More Biblical Than You Realize
Prayer to the saints remains one of the enduring sticking points in Catholic-Protestant dialogues. As always, from the Catholic side, a disclaimer is in order: We do not need something to be in the Bible in order for us to necessarily have as part of our faith or practice. The word Trinity is not in … → Read More
Why God Is ‘Nearer to Us Than Our Innermost Being’
Early in the Confessions, when he is recalling his days of wandering from God, Augustine makes a remarkable observation in passing: God had not only with been him, but was more aware of the future saint’s true self than he was. As Augustine puts it, “You were more inward to me than my most inward … → Read More
Three Ways Everyone Is Seeking Christ
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. These words of Jesus Christ, in John 14:6, constitute one of the most forceful expressions of what could be called the scandal of particularity. One Dominican priest summed it up best this way: It is tempting to imagine … → Read More
Nine Ways the Eucharist Is Hidden in the Old Testament
John Henry Newman once compared Scripture to an inexhaustibly rich wilderness—never failing to reward the faithful explorer with thrilling new discoveries yet always beyond his ability to master it completely: It cannot, as it were, be mapped, or its contents cataloged; but after all our diligence, to the end of our lives and to the … → Read More
What Is Man? Ancient Hebrew Gives Us Four Answers
In Psalm 8, David wonders what man is that God would be mindful of him. While English has just one word, ancient Hebrew employed four words to refer to man, each highlighting a different essential aspect of his character and being. Long before the Greek tragedians, Shakespeare, and modern novels plumbed the depths of human … → Read More
The Mystery of Man Mirrors the Enigma of God
There are many ways we are images of God. In two of his treatises, Augustine suggests that man even has a mysteriousness about him that reflects the ineffability of God: First, in the Confessions, Augustine regards man as one of the greatest wonders of creation: Great is this power of memory, exceeding great, O my … → Read More
How the Plagues of Egypt Exposed False Gods & Revealed the Truth
Plagues have a way of stripping away what is superfluous, revealing the naked truth. In the biblical account of the plagues that decimated Egypt, the plagues exposed the civilization’s false gods and their utter impotence in the face of the one true God (see Exodus 7 through 11). That might not be obvious from the … → Read More
‘Naked Shall I Return’: Eden, Job, & the Hidden Meaning of Baptism
One of the first effects of the Fall is Adam and Eve’s realization that they are naked. There are a lot of ways to interpret this. A common interpretation is that now that they had been corrupted by concupiscence they felt a need to cover themselves to avoid sexual temptation. This is certainly valid. But, … → Read More