Jesus pitied the crowd because they “were troubled and abandoned.” Things don’t change all that much. This election cycle seems to be driven by crowds that feel troubled and abandoned. There is a difference though between then and now. Modern politicians blame the problem as lying with someone else. The reason you feel the way… Read More »

The prophet Hosea uses his personal tragedy as an analogy to understand the relationship of God with the people of Israel. His inability to preserve his marriage serves as a metaphor for God’s inability to keep Israel faithful to the divine covenant despite all of the effort God has expended. Hosea wants to recapture his… Read More »

Opening lines can set the tone for the entire book to follow. Moby Dick: “Call me Ishmael.” Leo Tolstoy: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was… Read More »

Like many of the Old Testament prophets Amos proclaims that the “word of the Lord” which came to him included warnings, threats, admonitions, judgment, punishment. He insists that God wants the people to change, to be converted, to live a more Godly life. But he can’t leave it there — besides the stick he also… Read More »

Several years ago some bishops made news for refusing to give Holy Communion to politicians whom they believed were not sufficiently decisive in supporting life. There was a mood in some quarters suggesting the need for a “smaller but purer Church.” Pope Francis has a different approach. His emphasis on mercy, highlighted in proclaiming this… Read More »

God creates. God redeems. God forgives. Human beings don’t create or redeem. But we can forgive. When Jesus encounters the paralyzed man he forgives him. The scribes object that forgiveness is a divine prerogative. Jesus asks, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” We can infer from… Read More »

In the creed we profess to being an apostolic church: “one, holy, catholic and apostolic.” This does not simply mean that we are successors to the apostles. Sts. Peter and Paul would surely be amazed at the magnificent churches built over their tombs. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, while faithful to their teaching, would… Read More »

Imagine a world where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, where the one percent build bigger and bigger houses and the bottom ninety percent struggle to find adequate housing, where new stadiums and public buildings go up but there is no money for school children, where the decisions in the courtroom always… Read More »