My gifted wife helped me update the presentation and theme of this blog. I hope it gives me better focus on my writing and reflecting on the beauty we find in the ordinary and the broken.

From whence comes the idea that fault is good?

The Latin expression o felix culpa comes from the  Paschal Vigil Mass Exsultet (“O happy fault that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer”) and the writings of St. Augustine’s (354-430 AD) Enchiridion (“For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist”).

The basic idea is that the true event of the Fall in history is evidence of God’s goodness since it brings about the beauty of Redemption through the incarnation and the atonement of Jesus. Philosophers have wondered whether this observation means it is possible that a world that never experiences of Fall and Redemption isn’t as good as a world which does experience the great-making qualities.

While I have explored this idea in both my undergraduate and graduate studies in philosophical theology, I am also interested in this paradigm as I pastor my flock, dialogue with neighbors, and seek the welfare of the city where my family lives.

O Felix Culpa isn’t some cheap, easy fix to someone who suffers great tragedy, struggles to overcome addiction, has experienced abuse, was abandoned by their spouse, etc. Rather, it’s an invitation to explore the truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus in the complexity of a world which both frowns and smiles.

I also invite you to come back to read, reflect, and comment below on the content of this blog.