God can use anything, even the worst of things, for some good end. God used the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt as the occasion to lead the people into freedom by crossing sea and desert. God used the defeat of Israel at the hand of the Philistines as the opportunity to raise up King… Read More »

How bizarre. On this day of all days, the day when we remember that Jesus gathered his disciples and for the first time broke the bread and shared the cup of his Body and Blood, on this day we cannot share as a community in receiving the Holy Eucharist. It feels unjust. Our situation reminded… Read More »

St. Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth provides one of the accounts of the institution of the Eucharist at the last supper. He was, of course, not there. He learned about it from the tradition of the Church. I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you. St. John… Read More »

In certain quarters this is known as Spy Wednesday since a spy entered the midst of the disciples on Wednesday of Holy Week, when Judas resolved to betray our Lord for 30 pieces of silver. At the Last Supper when Jesus announced that someone would betray him the disciples all questioned who it could be. Even Judas… Read More »

In the days of Holy Week we read from what are known as the Servant Songs from the second part of the book of Isaiah. The prophet speaks of God’s servant who went through suffering in order to reach glory.  You are my servant, he said to me through whom I show my glory. The first… Read More »

There was a strong memory in the early church of the anointing of the feet of Jesus. The details differ in each gospel written forty or more years later. According to St. John the one doing the anointing was Mary, the friend of Jesus who was sister to Martha and Lazarus. Mary took a liter… Read More »

Scientists tell us that time is relative. We actually don’t need scientists to tell us that —  just check with any family in the month of December. The children will tell you that the days leading up to Christmas are crawling. The parents will tell you that time is flying by and they don’t know… Read More »

Scientists have talked about gravity at least since that apple hit Isaac Newton on the head. The law of universal gravitation explained the delicate dance of the planets around the sun. However, when astronomers peered more deeply into space gravity did not work as expected. Scientists speculated that some unknown forces  were causing heavenly bodies… Read More »

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. How quickly we resort to violence when we don’t like what is going on. Of course, the Bible is full of violence. The God of Israel is the Lord of Armies who conquers the Canaanites, the Egyptians, the Philistines, or whoever else threatens the Hebrew children. Jeremiah wants… Read More »

The promises of God must be viewed on a deep level. Take, for example, this word to Abraham: I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession. Yet within three generations they children of Abraham were in… Read More »