There is a nostalgic desire to put ourselves in Mary’s place that we might be the ones who anoint the feet of Jesus. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to care for the Lord! But when Jesus reminds us “the poor you have with you always” he is telling us that we DO have… Read More »

You can get whiplash on this Sunday. We go from palms to passion, from glory to grief, from cheers to jeers, from triumph to tragedy, from joy to despair, from “hosanna” to “crucify him,” from praise to crucifixion in the seeming blink of an eye. What is going on here? Why can’t we just stay… Read More »

The prophets of Israel had two modes: they were either fussing or they were consoling. They fussed even when things seemed to be going well because they could see the underlying rot. They consoled when things were terrible because they knew God’s mercy and fidelity. Prophets such as Ezekiel spoke of the “new” thing God… Read More »

At first it seems hard to understand why Jesus stirred up such hostility. He was a nice person, doing good, caring for the hurting. And, of course, there is a memory of earlier men of God like Jeremiah provoking similar negative reactions. I suspect it is part of the human tendency to tear down the… Read More »

The fastest human-made object, the Cassini spacecraft, travels at 25 miles per second. Of course light travels at 186,000 miles per second. So even if we found a way to up the speed of some human object to go 8 times faster than today it would still take 4,000 years to get to the closest… Read More »

I once had a poster which had emblazoned on it the words of Jesus: The Truth will set you Free. Underneath, in smaller print, it said: but first it will make you miserable. Living in the truth is not easy — it is hard to separate out what I want to be true from what… Read More »

When Jesus talks about the crucifixion in St. John’s Gospel he speaks of being “lifted up.” The Greek meaning of the term “lifted up,” like English, has a positive overtone. We might even translate it as “exalted.” Jesus’ crucifixion is, therefore, not a tragedy to be avoided at all costs but a stage for the… Read More »

Sometimes the Biblical stories seem like current events. In the story of the woman caught in adultery Jesus is confronted with a bilateral choice: either show mercy or enforce the law. Of course, Jesus is clever enough to discover another possibility which demonstrates both respect for the law and shows mercy. Pope Francis in his… Read More »

“It’s a matter of life and death.” In countless books, movies and TV shows, dramatic tension is heightened when there is a matter of life and death. Lassie has to bring the news that Timmy fell it the well because it’s a matter of life and death. Luke has to defeat Darth Vader because it’s… Read More »

Since the Bible is the revealed word of God even seeming throw away lines have a spiritual meaning. Take the seventh chapter of St. John’s Gospel, for example. There is a conflict about Jesus among the crowds, the guards, the chief priests, the Pharisees, and Nicodemus. The scene ends: “Then each went to his own… Read More »