Jesus quoted from the foundational prayer of Judaism when asked about the first commandment. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God …” To this day, pious Jews recite that prayer at both morning and evening prayer. It is written on the doorposts of their homes and… Read More »
MARCH82018
When I woke up this morning my socks were on the floor. I had a long debate with myself about what it would take for my creaky old body to bend over and pick them up. I wonder if it was experiences like that which produced the images in the Bible about “a stiff-necked people”… Read More »
MARCH72018
Ronald Reagan once famously said, “The government that governs best, governs least.” That attitude reflects an American (Anglo-Saxon) approach to law — that laws infringe on freedom, hence one has the least number of laws in order for society to operate safely. This was not the Jewish approach to law. For them the law is… Read More »
MARCH62018
Azariah’s prayer is a plaintive plea bemoaning all of the loss in his life. He no longer has a country, no group he belongs to, no place to worship. All he has is God. The point of the prayer is that having God is sufficient. St. Teresa of Avila expressed that same prayer much more… Read More »
MARCH52018
“If the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it?” These words addressed to Naaman, the Syrian, should resonate in the hearts of believers. They speak of the temptation we all face to imagine that God is to be found in the extraordinary, the miraculous, the unusual. In fact,… Read More »
MARCH42018
Did Jesus use violence? Look at the way St. John describes the cleansing of the temple. We are told, Jesus “made a whip out of cords and drove them all out … and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.” If we define violence as any force that inflicts injury, one… Read More »
MARCH32018
The parables of Jesus are open-ended; we must complete them in our lives. Think of the story of the Prodigal Son. Three possible endings: the older son goes into the party for his wayward brother and is filled with the Father’s compassion and love. OR, the older son goes into the party because the Father… Read More »
MARCH22018
“Here comes that master dreamer! Let us kill him then see what comes of his dreams.” These words of Joseph’s brothers always make me think of Dr. King. It is easier to kill the dreamer than it is to kill the dream! Whenever we hear about someone killing another, we wonder how it could happen.… Read More »
MARCH12018
“My mind’s made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” Don’t tell me about climate change, my mind is made up. This seems to be a mantra of our age but in fact goes back to the Bible. When the rich man tells Father Abraham that his brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets… Read More »
FEBRUARY282018
The people of Jerusalem figured that Jeremiah was more trouble than he was worth. They have all that they need to live out their religion “instruction from the priests,counsel from the wise, messages from the prophets.” The priests teach them the catechism, what they need to know. The wise give them advice on how to… Read More »
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