“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 »

The founder of my religious community, Fr. Judge, instructed us to “pray for opposition; pray particularly for opposition from good people.” I never understood that admonition. Shouldn’t we be praying for support?  What Fr. Judge had in mind is the example of the scriptures. In the Old Testament we find opposition to “the just one.”… Read More »

A few years ago (a few in this case meaning 40!) a book by a psychiatrist named M. Scott Peck explored the scientific dimensions of spirituality. His definition of love went something like this: acting for the spiritual welfare of another. Love is an action, not a feeling, directed toward another, not about yourself, and… Read More »

You’ve got to ask the right question. When the angel announces to Zechariah that he is to become the father of John the Baptist he asks:“How can I be sure of this?” When the angel announces to Mary that she is to become the mother of Jesus she asks:  “How can this be?” Zechariah asked the… Read More »

You can imagine what the crippled man thought when Jesus asked the question: “Do you want to be well?” Of course, I want to be well. He proceeded to give all the excuses on why he wasn’t well. Jesus does not accept any excuses but with a word produced a cure. What do we think… Read More »

When the Jewish people were in exile you can imagine them thinking, “We’ve just got to get through this and it will be okay.” They did get through it. They returned from exile back to the promised land … and they were disappointed. Things were difficult, problematic, troublesome. They thought they would pick up where… Read More »