Scholars tell us that even though St. Mark is listed second of the four gospels it was in all likelihood written first. Mark conceived of the idea of telling the story of Jesus as gospel, as good news. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. In order to tell the story… Read More »

Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. In the past when we heard these words of Jesus we took them as the invitation to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. They were the laborers, were they not? The Church today realizes that all Christians are… Read More »

Because Jesus was the Son of David he was recognized as the Messiah, the Christ. Looking back on his life, the genealogies of Matthew and Luke and St. Paul stress this. However, the people who acknowledged it during his ministry were surprising. Two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on… Read More »

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Once a mother asked me to talk with her grown son about why he left the Church. “Because they did away with eating fish on Friday,” was his… Read More »

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God is very specific. On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples. The philosophers (going back to the 13th century Franciscan John Duns Scotus)  talk about “thisness,” or “haeccity” in Latin. God does not save humanity in general but individuals, this person — John, Mary,… Read More »

Edward Hicks, a nineteenth century sign-maker, was fascinated with the vision of God’s future portrayed in Isaiah: Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid… He  painted version after version of this prophetic image which he entitled “The Peaceable Kingdom.” Sixty-two of these paintings… Read More »

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” According to St. John’s gospel Andrew knew of Jesus even before this call and introduced his brother Simon… Read More »

On board the Titanic there were always two lookouts in the crow’s nest on the watch for any danger that might threaten the ship. They were told to be particularly on the lookout for ice. During the Battle of Britain the RAF used the Chain Home Radar plus coastal observers to watch for the coming… Read More »

An angel showed me the river of life-giving water … On either side of the river grew the tree of life. This passage from the end of the Bible in the Book of Revelation mirrors the story of Adam and Eve at the beginning of the Bible. Eden had a “tree of life in the… Read More »

The contrast between the way the book of Revelation and the Gospel of Luke talk about the end of history can shape our spirituality. Revelation uses exotic images — dragon, 1000 year long reign, large white throne, book of life, pool of fire. Jesus in the gospel is more down to earth:  “Consider the fig… Read More »