President Kennedy is famous for saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” No politician says anything remotely like that nowadays. They promise how much people are going to get if they are elected. St. Paul, on the other hand, echoes the challenge of… Read More »

“Welcome to my house.” Can’t you just picture the excitement of Zacchaeus as Jesus entered his front door? I’m sure that he wanted to show off by putting out the best china and cloth napkins. He made sure everything was clean and tidy. Maybe he even put an arrangement of flowers on the table to… Read More »

There was an episode in the old TV show M.A.S.H. where Hawkeye, while operating on a severely wounded soldier, is muttering to himself, “I can’t let him win. I can’t let him win.” A visiting doctor asks what he is talking about. BJ answers that for Hawkeye death is the enemy and the role of… Read More »

“You are … members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles.” For St. Paul, the apostolic foundation is necessary for the Church to be Church. In our creeds we confess that we are an apostolic church. Yet we know so little about the apostles except their names. While the apostles… Read More »

The feast of the Guardian Angels provides an opportunity to reflect on those times when we have felt a particular divine presence — protection, guidance, consolation. But the Bible presumes that besides the benign presence of angels there also exists the malevolent presence of “principalities and powers and evil spirits.” Instead of protection, the evil… Read More »

St. Paul does not challenge the status quo of society but instead lays out principles to guide the Christian life in the midst of a pagan world. Thus, he simply presumes that slavery exists and seeks to provide guidelines for Christians in a world which condoned slavery. Throughout the centuries the Church has wrestled with… Read More »

Some preachers tend to avoid Ephesians 5 with the line: “Wives be subordinate to your husbands.” It reflects a time of patriarchy which seems out of sync with modern sensibilities. However, a more careful look at the text provides a better understanding of what St. Paul is urging. The passage begins, “Be subordinate to one… Read More »

“Be imitators of God.” Seems like a pretty tall order from St. Paul. I can’t imitate God in creation nor can I imitate God in redemption. How am I supposed to heed the Apostle? What we can do according to the epistle is imitate God in forgiveness. “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one… Read More »

The Rabbi walked up to the front of the synagogue and fell to his knees praying: “Dear God, I am not worthy, I am the lowest of the low, a worm and no man. I am dust and ashes, small and of little account.” The cantor then walked up to the front of the synagogue… Read More »

“Living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ.” It is easy to get lulled into a certain complacency. We figure we’re doing pretty good and rest content. But St. Paul reminds us we need to “grow” into Christ. We are not set in stone; we… Read More »