A current phenomenon in American politics is the call in certain quarters for “Christian nationalism.” While not exactly sure what that means I am sure that it is not a Biblical idea. The image of imposing Christianity by force (which, by the way, has been tried and failed in history) runs counter to the gospel.… Read More »

The feast we celebrate today used to be dedicated only to St. Martha. Pope Francis added her siblings, Mary and Lazarus so now we remember all three of them on the same day. This might be a good day to thank God for our brothers and sisters. More importantly, as the gospels relate, the three… Read More »

Jeremiah and other prophets used actions as well as words as a way to deliver a prophetic message. Perhaps the most famous is his trip to the potter’s house where he saw the clay molded and remolded into the form the potter wanted.  Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in… Read More »

Why is my pain continuous, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Even a great prophet who had powerful experiences of God from his youth is entitled to a pity party every now and then. All of his efforts to get the people to reform, to avoid the coming threat seem to have come to… Read More »

In the prophet Jeremiah there are three distinct voices. The one we notice first is Jeremiah preaching fire and brimstone to the people.  We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness, the guilt of our fathers; that we have sinned against you. The second is the voice of God: “Thus says the Lord…” God lays out to… Read More »

The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. Each of us have, like Mrs. Zebedee, asked God for something. Frequently God says a polite “no” to us just as Jesus did to the mother of James and John. How Jesus responded… Read More »

A few years ago (well, a few decades ago…) there was a Gatorade ad campaign with the slogan “Be Like Mike.” (I won’t sing you the jingle because it will become an ear worm for the rest of the day.) The logic of the commercial: since Michael Jordan was, arguably, the greatest basketball player of… Read More »

Almost sixty years ago Bob Dylan wrote a scathing anti-war song, “With God on our side.”  People justify war, destruction, even genocide by supposing that God is on their side, not that of the enemy. He ends the song by suggesting that Judas Iscariot probably thought he had God on his side. Jeremiah warns the… Read More »

Pope Francis has elevated the celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene to that of a “feast.” Most saints are remembered in a memorial. Major saints, like the apostles are given the status of a feast. Since Mary Magdalene is considered the “apostle to the apostles” — the one who first announced the good news of the… Read More »