Perhaps I should take this Sunday’s Gospel (Lk. 6:31-36) with me to the bank and say, “Here, see? It says, ‘Lend without expecting repayment’”—and then see how well I do in the loan department! It has been said a number of times that Christianity has not failed; it has never been tried! That is probably [...]
I don’t know much about Buddhism (and, to be honest, I’m not particularly interested in knowing all about it), but I do know that one of their fundamental beliefs is in the “Four Noble Truths.” I don’t remember all of those, either, but for my purposes here, I need only the first one: “Life is [...]
That would be Jesus Christ, right? Of course, but guess what? It’s also you and I, if we’re going to be found worthy of entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Perhaps we don’t like the military sound of “conquer,” but if it is to be used concerning sin and death, then yes, obliterate, annihilate, and utterly [...]
We begin the cycle of St Luke after the feast of the Holy Cross in the same way we begin the cycle of St Matthew after Pentecost: with an account of the calling of the first disciples. In some religious orders, the feast of the Cross is the dividing line for their summer and winter [...]
Just in case you’ve been holding your breath waiting for this, my new book is now available. The full title is How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place: Lifting the Veils on the Presence of God. If you’re wondering what it is about, I checked the back cover and found this: The great quest of man [...]
There’s another point that most people don’t think about when they read about the rich young man. I think we should call this story not merely that of the “Rich Young Man,” but rather of the “Rich and Pious Young Man,” because there’s another issue here about putting your trust in something else besides God. [...]
“If you would be perfect….” Thus spoke the Lord to the rich young man of the Gospel. Thus speaks the Lord to us as well. We might think to ourselves, “Well, thanks, but I don’t really need to be perfect—I’ll just be OK.” But is that good enough? In this Scripture passage, Jesus gives the [...]
It seems that Peter and the other disciples were initially not quite sure what to make of the resurrection of Jesus. We read in John 20 that they saw the empty tomb, and later they saw Jesus when He appeared to them in the upper room. Then He left, and the disciples were apparently at [...]
“We preach Christ crucified,” declares the Apostle Paul in the epistle for this feast (1Cor 1:18-24), “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Divine power, divine wisdom, manifested in the crucifixion of Jesus. This is the “word of the Cross,” as Paul said, which is “folly to those who are perishing,” but [...]
Why must the Church’s “ordinary time” be interrupted with extraordinary time? Is it to relieve the tedium of the same round of services day after day? I don’t think so, since feast-day services can be even more tedious due to their extra length, making your tired body and word-weary mind wonder if this is not [...]
