There is a famous nineteenth century painting by William Holman Hunt entited The Light of the World. The painting is the artist’s depiction of a passage in the Book of Revelation.“‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine… Read More »

The Church ends the liturgical year by thinking about the future God has in store for us. The book of Revelation provides a Biblical perspective on the end times. The book begins with a series of “letters to the churches.” The author praises and chides the churches about the way they are living the gospel.… Read More »

The election is over. The ending was just as bizarre as the whole process. One of the most bizarre things of all was a candidate sputtering to answer if she thought that the Republican nominee was a good role model. Duh. Good role model? Maybe instead of politicians – or athletes or entertainers — we… Read More »

The results of the election after the recent political campaign seemed to affirm its divisive, hateful, ugly rhetoric. Many people, myself included, find this very discouraging. We had hoped that our country was moving toward a more equitable, just and peaceful society. The election said, not so fast. The advice of Jesus is particularly timely… Read More »

I get a strange sort of consolation when I read the Bible and find in there evidence of the tensions and divisions that existed in the earliest days of the Church. It serves as a reminder that from the very beginning Christians have relied on the grace of God to help them overcome differences. There… Read More »

Philemon has a problem. His friend, Paul, has written a letter. The one bringing the letter is Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus. The letter discloses that Onesimus has become a Christian while he stayed with Paul. In returning Onesimus to his owner, Paul says that his status as a Christian changes the relationship between Philemon and… Read More »

At a recent meeting of priests of the Archdiocese I was asked how are people coping with the destruction of St. James Church. My answer was: many still miss it deeply and they don’t understand why it was taken away from them. The early Jewish Christians no doubt had very strong feelings when the Temple,… Read More »

You sense in the early letters of St. Paul a sense of urgency. He supposes that the second coming of Jesus is imminent and proposes a lifestyle of eager expectation. The latter letters in the Pauline corpus possess a different tone. They suggest that Christians need to learn to live “in the meantime.” The epistle… Read More »

It seems like an “non sequitur” at first. Jesus talked about the need to forgive and the apostles responded, “Increase our faith.” On further thought it does take a lot of faith to forgive. When we have been hurt, our natural instinct is to protect ourselves from being hurt again. That can lead to building… Read More »

During the month of November Catholics remember the Faithful Departed. This ancient practice is limited by our inability to penetrate the other side of death. Jesus tells us the two things we need to know: that “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob … is not God of the… Read More »