If we want to understand about the kingdom of God we should pay more attention to children. Jesus certainly referred to children often as he taught his disciples. “Become like a child…” “Receive a child…” “Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” When an adult receives a… Read More »

St. James is involved in a fund raising campaign for the Archdiocese. At the orientation those running the campaign said to aim for “aspirational giving.” In other words, don’t be content with ordinary giving but look at the needs that you aspire to achieve and seek the resources necessary to reach that goal. While I… Read More »

The Book of Sirach was so widely used in the early church for instruction in the moral life and in catechetics that it was known as “the Church Book,” Ecclesiasticus. For example, Chapter 5 begins, Rely not on your wealth; say not: “I have the power.” Rely not on your strength. The introduction to the… Read More »

“For whoever is not against us is for us.” David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, wrote recently of his spiritual journey. Jewish by heritage but non-practicing, as he aged and saw the situation in the world today he started looking for an anchor, a set of values to help him make sense of things… Read More »

Several times Jesus held up children as models for life in the kingdom of God. He once famously said we needed to “turn and become like little children” as his followers. In the Gospel of Mark we find Jesus saying: “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me.” Not become like… Read More »

We start reading this week from the Book of Sirach. The book itself was part of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was the Bible of the early Church. The book was so used for instruction on the part of the early Christians that St. Jerome entitled it Ecclesiasticus, the church… Read More »

I don’t know how parents do it. They are given these precious lives to care for but no instruction manual is included. They have to learn how to change the tire while the car is still rolling. Then when another child comes they have to do it all again because this individual is not like… Read More »

“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Being the rock is a good thing. It’s solid, it endures, it is secure. In a parable Jesus says to build on a rock so having Peter as the rock provides us a firm foundation. However, just a few verses later Jesus chides… Read More »

It is a coincidence, or we would say a providence, that the two readings assigned for today serve as commentary for one another. In Ordinary Time the readings are done chapter by chapter, during these weeks from Gensis and the Gospel of Mark, so their relevance to one another  is happenstance. In the Old Testament… Read More »

The eighth chaper of St. Mark’s gospel is the hinge around which the mission of Jesus swings. Up until this point Jesus has been teaching, preaching, working miracles all in the hope that his disciples would get what he was about. Finally, taking a day apart with those closest to him he asks: “But who… Read More »