The people of Israel were in exile and had no opportunity to pray, to worship as they were accustomed . The prophet laments the situation but sees a new opportunity to connect with God. We have in our day … no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense. But with contrite heart and humble spirit let… Read More »

There is a famous novel by Thomas Wolfe entitled You Can’t Go Home Again.  The gist of the book: if you try to return to a place you remember from the past it won’t be the same as you remember it. That works both ways. When you go home again you will be different as well and the homeys… Read More »

There was a show on the radio for many years called “What d’ya know?” When the announcer would ask the question the audience would answer, “Not much. You?” I know that they have Mass in the Vatican every day. I know that the Cardinal of Chicago will urge us to go to Church on Sunday.… Read More »

The story of the Prodigal Son is a beloved parable of Jesus. According to St. Luke Jesus told the parable in response to a challenge: The Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”   The story is really about a father and two sons, not just the prodigal.… Read More »

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons … and he had made him a long tunic.  What happened to the “coat of many colors,” to say nothing of “the amazing technicolor dreamcoat?” “Long tunic” might reflect the Hebrew better but it doesn’t have the same zip. What does have zip is the family dynamic playing… Read More »

For a truly terrifying movie you don’t need vampires or zombies or Stephen King. Go to see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. — the story of a loving family who are excited because the father has gotten a big promotion. However, the promotion is to run a Nazi death camp. The movie is terrifying… Read More »

The people of Jerusalem conspired against Jeremiah by asserting they didn’t need him since he did not supply “instruction, counsel or messages.” Apparently they thought that those things are the what religion or faith does. But those things are all external, not intrinsic to one’s person. You can taken them or leave them. Jeremiah, on… Read More »

Billy Graham once preached a sermon which contained a line something like this: if God doesn’t intervene soon, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. The sermon then went on to list the sexual sins present in the US. In contrast, when the prophet Isaiah thinks of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah he… Read More »

To understand Pope John XXIII we must work to understand how things were 60 years ago and learn Italian to read his private journals. Something similar is at work when we read the gospels. The gospel writers were striving to help us to meet Jesus. They were writing two generations or so after his death… Read More »

Have you known anyone who was transfigured? In fiction we can think of the character of Jean Valjean from the book and play Les Miserables. He is a paroled prisoner, embittered and angry at the society that would condemn a man for the crime of trying to help his starving family. The local bishop provides… Read More »