Samuel and the “elders of Israel” had different ideas about God’s will. The elders saw the external threat of war and conquest and determined that having a king would be the best way to prevent that from happening. Samuel was concerned about the internal life of the community — having a king would disrupt the… Read More »

The Books of Samuel tell how a loose group of tribes became forged into a nation. When the Hebrews first occupied the Promised Land after the liberation from Egypt each tribe settled in their own area. They would help the neighboring tribes when a need arose. The coming of the war-like Philistines showed the limitations… Read More »

After thirteen years in the seminary I thought I should be proficient in prayer but it wasn’t happening. I even got an additonal degree in Spiritual Theology to see if that would help. My prayer never seemed to match up to all of the books I was reading about prayer. What was I doing wrong?… Read More »

Ordinary time begins with the first chapter of St. Mark which might be entitled “what a week with Jesus.” The gospel begins as the saying goes “in medias res,” right in the middle of the action. There is not an infancy narrative to set the scene but Jesus picks up the mantle of John the… Read More »

The Advent/Christmas season has ended and we will be in “ordinary” time for the next eight weeks until Lent begins. In ordinary time a particular book of the Bible is read chapter by chapter. The gospel for these weeks will be taken from Mark, second on our list but probably the first gospel written down.… Read More »

When someone says to you “that happened fifty years ago” your (or at least my) initial thought is “that’s a long time in the past.” Fifty years before I was born the US was fighting the Spanish-American War. Ancient history. However, when you remember that Dr. King was assassinated fifty-three years ago, Neil Armstrong stepped… Read More »

Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. None of the other gospels report that Jesus baptized and, in fact, even St. John walks the statement back. In fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples (John 4:2).  Scholars speculate that the scene… Read More »

During the Christmas season we have been reading from the first epistle of St. John. The Beloved Disciples tells us:  I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life. Our focus is not on this world only but on the heavenly realm of life on the other side… Read More »

Several years ago I was working with a consulting firm about raising funds for the missions. They wanted to know how many people would be served, how many places would be involved, how much was it going to cost to run the operation. I thought — those are not the right questions. It is not… Read More »

Yesterday I heard the distressing news that my niece’s husband has a brain tumor. I am trying to figure how to be a support. When I experienced some emotional storm in my life I have been able to rely on faith.  Jesus tells me to “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” and… Read More »