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...
St. Andrew of Crete (8th Century) proclaims the victory, glory, and triumph of Christ crucified forr the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14, the day that the stolen relics of the true cross were returned to Jerusalem in the early...
Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son and Israel's worship of the Golden Calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai are some of the best known of all Bible stories. The connection? Maybe they both reveal much about the nature of sin, grace ....
Stewardship . . . what does this term really mean? The parable of the dishonest steward in Luke 16 argues against the divorce between God and everyday life. Though it is idolatry to serve money, it is very important to serve God by the way...
In Luke 14, Jesus speaks some very disturbing words to anyone who wants to be his disciple. He talks about discipleship as requiring people to renounce not only their possessions but also their own life and family. The example of Thomas More shows...
In the topsy turvey world of the Kingdom of God humility opens doors, the last shall be first and the meek shall inherit the earth. Meekness is not weakness, & pride is a symptom of insanity. This post explains why....
The prophets of the Old and New Testaments show us that sometimes love demand that we speak truth that people don't want to hear. Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern; Jesus was run out of Nazaret. This shows us that God's messengers shouldn't expect...
This reading on the mean of Christ's sufferings Savior's passion reflects on the Lord's passion by means of several key bible passages including of the piercing of Christ's side in John 19. Theodoret interprets the blood and water flowing from that wound as signs of...
Jesus' call to enter through the narrow door seems to conflict with the idea that God wants all to be saved, that the universal, Catholic Church means "here comes everybody." But a deeper look resolves the inconsistency....
Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians in the history of the church, here focuses on the passion of Jesus Christ not only to redeem us but also to teach us. Indeed, the cross exemplifies every virtue and teaches us all we have to know...
