Responding to current events, what’s happening on campus, and special moments throughout the year.
December 5, 2023 | By Marcos Barrios ES ‘24
So, what kind of friend is God? For one thing, He’s faithful. The Scriptures show how present He is in the history of Israel and how many times He keeps His promises and provides for His people. He’s forgiving, remembering His “[people] are dust," (Ps. 103:14), treating us with grace we don’t deserve. And He’s proactive, seeking His people by sending prophets, signs, and wonders. He searches for His lost sheep and runs to meet His children. He ultimately took the first step of love, giving His son for us while we were still sinners.
November 20, 2023 | By Zeki Tan MY ‘25
For those desperately attempting to construct meaning in their lives, especially if they have experienced grief, trauma, or suffering that defies any explanation, these predictions can renew their hopes for transformation and escape from present hardship. Another possibility is that prophecies of doom paradoxically make otherwise unpleasant or terrifying events like sickness and death predictable, taking away a source of anxiety for people. Death is a journey in which we lose all control over our bodies and lives, but fixing the hour of our demise restores some sense of agency, allowing us to make plans and say our goodbyes.
October 30, 2023 | By Emma Ventresca BF ‘26
In the words of Cardinal Francis George, we live in a society where “everything is permitted and nothing is forgiven.” Now this can be difficult to believe at first glance. How can a world that proclaims greater acceptance of all be one of condemnation? But the effects of cancel culture validate the Cardinal’s claim.
May 27, 2022 | By Raquel Sequeira TD ’21.5
Over the past few years, I’ve been learning more about the traditional Church calendar. I learned from my audio devotional that today (Thursday, May 26, 2022) is the Feast of the Ascension: the day we celebrate Jesus’ return from life here on Earth to his Father in heaven. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to feel on Ascension Day, but I find that this remembrance is making me profoundly sad.
November 26, 2021 | By Raquel Sequeira TD ‘21.5
As I reach the end of my time at Yale, I’ve been reflecting on the highlights. I’ve realized that many of the best moments of the past five years have just been…talking to people. Brilliant people, it should be said. The kinds of conversations where you start with British Literature and wind your way to quantum computing, or from the philosophy of infinity to the meaning of joy. God is usually in there. You find yourself gesturing to invisible diagrams on the wall behind you. You forget your complaints and anxieties about school in this momentary oasis of dialogue.
November 19, 2021 | By Stephen McNulty MY ‘25
In 2013, an eighty-three-year-old nun stood before a court facing an odd charge — the year prior, she had broken into a Tennessee nuclear site, in what was perhaps the largest security breach in US atomic history. She and her collaborators were part of the Plowshares movement, a pacifist Christian movement infamous for direct action against US nuclear facilities. Their goal, as it were, was to beat the swords of the military-industrial complex into plowshares, as alluded to in the Book of Isaiah:
March 28, 2021 | By Brandon Cobb
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
Sept 27, 2020 | By Raquel Sequeira TD ‘21.5
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” “When there are nine.” “I grew up not knowing there was a glass ceiling because of you.” “Thank you for inspiring this lady lawyer.” “I dissent.”
I paced the pavement in front of the Supreme Court, squinting to read the hundreds of chalk messages obscured by my lengthening shadow. Golden hour on Capitol Hill is one of my favorite places to be. Now, I was sharing the sunset with a crowd—not one of the angry crowds that often storm the white marble steps before abortion cases, but a crowd subdued to silent awe. People kept their distance from each other and even from the police barrier-turned-memorial, endowing the chalked-up sidewalk with a sense of sacredness.
Sept 14, 2020 | By Bradley Yam SY ‘20
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
– Wordsworth, The World is Too Much With Us
With a pithy sestet Wordsworth summarizes the wonder of the wilderness wrapped in mythological glory: Proteus rising from the sea, Triton blowing his horn. Wordsworth wrote during the Industrial Revolution when the divisions between the civilized city and the natural wilderness became sharply defined.
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December 18, 2023 | By Gavin S YDS ‘25
When envisioning the ideal life at Yale—a perfect record of crafting perfect papers, always offering perfect contributions in class, and developing perfect relationships and networking connections, with perfect moments sprinkled in between—we seek a perfection so incredible to stand out among the perfectionists. Yet, the question lingers: How does joy fit into this journey? How can failure be tolerated?