The thoughts of a sufi master: When I was young my prayer was, “Lord, give me the energy to change the world.” As I reached middle age and saw how futile my initial prayer was I changed the prayer to, “Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come in contact with me… Read More »

The Book of Ecclesiastes seems to look on human existence as trapped in a repetitious cycle. The dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it. Or as the old Bruce Hornsby song put it: “that’s just the way it is. Some things will never change.”… Read More »

I am a fan of science fiction. I like imagining what the future will be like. One sub-species of the genre I don’t like is time travel stories. Time travel seems like cheating — you can’t go back in time and fix where you messed up. That is the lesson from the Book of Ecclesiastes.… Read More »

Qoheleth, the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes, had a somewhat cynical view of the world — been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.  Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us. You hate to disagree with the Bible but I have to think… Read More »

We read in the gospel of Luke: Jesus summoned the Twelve … and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God. We read in St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  Jesus preached the kingdom of God; Paul and the rest of the apostles preached… Read More »

For the next several days the scripture readings will be taken from what, in the Christian tradition, we call the Wisdom Literature. In the Hebrew Bible these books are simply called “the writings.” The first selections are from the Book of Proverbs, a collection of sayings on how to live a godly life. Many cultures… Read More »

There is a wonderful painting by Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew. The scene: group of dandies dressed in the finest clothes are seated around the counting table. Jesus is depicted as having entered the building and pointing to the tax collector. Matthew points to himself in a “who me?” gesture. The picture describes not just… Read More »

We tend to have a stereotype in our head of a child coming in from trick or treating on Halloween clutching his or her stash of candy. When mother says, “Why don’t you share some of that with your sister” there is immediate resistance. “This is my candy.” What researchers into child psychology have found… Read More »

As befits a primarily agricultural economy images from farming are predominant in the Bible. Farmers, planting, reaping, weeds, etc. all serve as metaphors for spiritual realities. Seeds are mentioned frequently, perhaps because of the almost miraculous power they possess. Put a tiny acorn in the ground and eventually that seed produces a mighty multi-ton oak.… Read More »

You can picture St. Luke’s wife telling him, “Don’t forget to mention the women.” His is the only gospel that particularly mentions the role of women right up there with the twelve apostles. Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another… Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of… Read More »