The Feast of Christ the King reminds us that Jesus will judge the living and the dead. Matthew 25 hints that the pious, decent folk may be in for a surprise . . . sins of omission, failing to love, may figure more prominently...
The parable of the vineyard and the wicked tenants or husbandmen is a warning to peoples and nations that no wall will protect a society that is abundantly blessed yet continues to bear bad fruit and sour grapes, refusing to give God his due. ...
St. Bede the Venerable on the call of Matthew, Tax Collector turned disciple, apostle & evangelist. Matthew, originally called Levi, was, as a publican, excommunicated from the life of the synagogue and shunned in Jewish society....
We so often condemn the Pharisees that we totally miss a sneaky way that we are often like them. The hard saying of Jesus "if you hand causes you to sin, cut it off" is a kind of shock therapy to wake us up...
Robert Bellarmine, reflecting on Jesus' statement in Matthew 11:30 that "my yoke is easy, my burden light," explains it in terms of love of God and the joy and happiness that it produces, in this life, and eternally. For September 17, his feast day....
The famous miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes calls us to trust that when we offer the Lord our ordinary and scanty resources, he will work a wonder of transformation, just like he transforms the bread and wine of the Eucharist. To...
The Fatherhood of God has come under fire with the rise of feminism. If we know that God is pure spirit who transcends male and female, masculine and feminine, why preserve what some believe to be the antiquated, patriarchal practice of referring to the divinity...
Gregory the Great explains the nature of true simplicity making use of the example of Job as well as the Gospel saying of Jesus "Be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves." For him simplicity must be accompanied by the fire...
This talk on SAINT JOSEPH, HUMILITY AND MEEKNESS is 3rd in a series of presentations given by Dr. Italy for the special Year of St. Joseph. Jesus combined tremendous strength with great humility and gentleness. In his human nature, he learned this from his father. In...
14 minute podcast in which Dr. Italy discusses St. Joseph as an often overlooked hero of the Advent - Christmas story. He shows how St. Matthew's gospel presents him as a model of faith....