Frequently after Jesus performs a miracle he says, “your faith has saved you.” He seeks to deflect the thought that he is somehow or other “miracle Max” who goes around with a magic wand working wonders. Instead, he is cultivating the understanding that the action and presence of God bespeaks a partnership, a partnership of… Read More »

Whenever there is a major event when I was the leader I would thank those who made it all possible. A simple task — but one that filled me with anxiety. I was sure that I would forget someone in the list of gratitude and that they would be hurt as a result. However, Jesus… Read More »

At a recent event hosted by St. James, Immaculee Ilibagiza spoke of her experience during the Rwandan genocide. She described hiding in a bathroom with seven other women for 91 days while death squads slaughtered her people, the Tutsi. She realized that her family were in all likelihood among those killed. As she tried to… Read More »

  Once upon a time the egg of an eagle fell out of its nest and landed in a turkey barnyard.  The turkey hen thinking it was one of her eggs placed it in her nest and sat on the eagle egg and soon enough it hatched.  The turkeys raised the eaglet as one of… Read More »

In Romans 16, St. Paul greets twenty people. Six of those who are named are women who are considered as “fellow workers” by the Apostle and who “worked hard for the Lord.” Included on that list is Phoebe, the deaconess. All of which shows how mistaken the notion that St. Paul was somehow or other… Read More »

As St. Paul concludes his letter to the Romans he adds this thought: “I myself am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness.” He is addressing this to a community where there are tensions between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. He implies that if we have as our… Read More »

Christians have an ambiguous relationship with our church buildings. On the one hand are minds and hearts are lifted up to God when we enter into a beautiful church like St. Peter’s in Rome. You feel the presence of the sacred. On the other hand, church buildings are not essential to being church. After all,… Read More »

Jesus would talk to the scribes and pharisees in one way and talk to his disciples in another. When he addressed “the crowds” he had a particularly challenging message. They were following him because he said and did things which attracted them, which interested them. But Jesus did not use a “Madison Avenue” approach trying… Read More »

When St. Paul wrote to the church at Rome, a community he did not know, he stressed the theme of unity. This was not a new idea for him but one that he stressed in all of the communities that he founded. He didn’t KNOW that unity was needed among the Roman Christians but he… Read More »

St. Paul concludes his reflection on the fact that his own people, the Jews, have not responded to faith in Jesus by exclaiming: “How inscrutable are God’s judgments and how unsearchable his ways!” The Apostle believes that God wishes all to be saved and trusts that the divine mercy will embrace the Jewish people —… Read More »