There was a strong memory in the early church of the anointing of the feet of Jesus. The details differ in each gospel written forty or more years later. According to St. John the one doing the anointing was Mary, the friend of Jesus who was sister to Martha and Lazarus. Mary took a liter… Read More »

Scientists tell us that time is relative. We actually don’t need scientists to tell us that —  just check with any family in the month of December. The children will tell you that the days leading up to Christmas are crawling. The parents will tell you that time is flying by and they don’t know… Read More »

Scientists have talked about gravity at least since that apple hit Isaac Newton on the head. The law of universal gravitation explained the delicate dance of the planets around the sun. However, when astronomers peered more deeply into space gravity did not work as expected. Scientists speculated that some unknown forces  were causing heavenly bodies… Read More »

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. How quickly we resort to violence when we don’t like what is going on. Of course, the Bible is full of violence. The God of Israel is the Lord of Armies who conquers the Canaanites, the Egyptians, the Philistines, or whoever else threatens the Hebrew children. Jeremiah wants… Read More »

The promises of God must be viewed on a deep level. Take, for example, this word to Abraham: I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession. Yet within three generations they children of Abraham were in… Read More »

 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  I had a poster with that saying emblazoned upon it … but underneath in smaller print was added “but first it will make you miserable.” I found the truth of that in dealing with the clergy sex abuse crisis. Looking at the years… Read More »

With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God. This staying “sheltered-in-place” feels like a long, strange journey and our patience is wearing thin. Complaining and moaning are the natural consequence. But complaining does not more good for us than it did for Israel. We can’t go back to what was… Read More »

The story of the woman caught in adultery should give us pause. We ordinarily think that one’s behavior is what determines your relationship with God. The sinners are against God and the saints are on the side of God. That is not the Biblical image. Rather, everyone is welcomed by God first, even before looking… Read More »

Somewhere around the year 1555 the system of dividing the Bible up into chapter and verse was universally adopted. Before then, if you were looking for a particular saying in the Bible you would have to go through the whole book line by line. Think how awkward it would be at a football game (I… Read More »

St. John has a scene where the chief priests and Pharisees are arguing over  Jesus. The gospel scene concludes with a seeming throw away line: Then each went to his own house. The image envisions a boxer sitting in his corner waiting to come out and fight again. By remaining in “his own house” the… Read More »