There is a cliché in preaching – when you are giving a sermon you should have the Bible in one hand and the New York Times in the other. The point: the word of God helps us to understand current events and current events provide the place where the word of God comes alive. Our… Read More »

It is love that I desire, not sacrifice.  These words from the prophet Hosea were very important to the early Christians, and to us later Christians too. Interior conversion carries more weight than public worship. How ironic when someone leaves Church and then curses out someone in the parking lot. It seems like he missed the… Read More »

If you ask any catechist (or any catechized child) what were the commandments of Jesus they would, no doubt, answer: love God and love your neighbor. While that is a good answer it is not exactly how Jesus answered the question about the most important commandment. Quoting from the Bible in the traditional Jewish prayer… Read More »

Saint Joseph is held up as a model father, husband,  worker,  and man of faith. He is central to the story of salvation since it is from him that Jesus gets his identity as the “son of David,” and, hence, as the Messiah. The genealogies in both Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ Davidic lineage through… Read More »

Ronald Reagan famously said, “the government that governs best governs least.” The idea seems to have been that a society with the maximum of freedom, no regulations or rules, would be the best. This is not the way the Bible thinks. (It wasn’t the way the Founding Fathers thought either but that is another discussion.)… Read More »

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 »