In our society we tend to value the worth of something or someone by their accomplishments. He got this degree, she has a good job, that church is growing, they hoisted the championship trophy. But St. Paul has a different metric, “the message of the cross” which, to our way of thinking, “is foolishness.” What… Read More »

We start today the first letter that St. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth. They were his problem children and most of the letter consists of fussing with them. However, he starts off the letter with words of praise and thanksgiving. “I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace… Read More »

The story of the death of John the Baptist was very important to the New Testament authors and, hence, to the Church. We recognize the emotions swirling around the scene describing John’s execution. The vengeful wife, the seductive girl, the leering men, the boastful king are all types we know. St. Mark suggests that Herod… Read More »

St. Paul wrote a second letter to the church in Thessalonica because of speculation in that city about the end of the world. He said, “With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ not to be alarmed … to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive… Read More »

After several weeks of  readings from the Old Testament prophets, the suggested passage today is from St. Paul’s second letter to the Church in Thessalonica. One immediate difference from the prophets is found in the opening greeting: “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians.” Instead of being a lone wolf as the… Read More »

Creation is absolutely astounding.  There are somewhere in the neighborhood of a ten billion galaxies, each with about a hundred billion stars — that’s one billion trillion stars (ten with twenty-one zeros after it) twinkling in the nighttime sky.  That is astounding.  Our own sun, an ordinary star by all standards, is so immense that… Read More »

The prophet Ezekiel encouraged the people from the land of exile. He dreamed of a restoration to the promised land. Ezekiel had a powerful vision of the glory of God coming “from the east” toward Jerusalem. “I fell prone as the glory of the LORD entered the temple.” The problem with the vision was that… Read More »

According to our creeds we are an apostolic church, a church founded on the twelve chosen by Jesus to carry his message to the whole world. Yet, as today’s feast of St. Bartholomew illustrates, we know next to nothing about them. In fact, in St. John’s gospel Nathaniel is the name given to the friend… Read More »

“I will bring you back to your own land. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you… You shall be my people, and I will be your God.” These words of the prophet Ezekiel are the promise that God doesn’t give up. Even though the people of God continue… Read More »

“Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?” This word from the prophet Ezekiel coming while the Church in the US is reeling again with news of clergy sex abuse serves as an indictment. But in a strange way it also… Read More »