The expression in English, to pass on the mantle, is used when there is a transition in leadership from the mentor to the apprentice. The idiom refers back to a Bible story. Elijah had been a prophet faithful to the God of Israel and he needed a successor. He found him in the person of… Read More »
JUNE122020
We tend to think of God as being present in the extraordinary, the unusual, the dramatic — heavenly visions, miraculous healings, a dancing sun. When Elijah went looking for God he did not find him in the earthquake, the hurricane or the volcano. Instead God was present when “there was a tiny whispering sound.” We … Read More »
JUNE112020
The Bible says that Barnabas was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. We also read in the Acts of the Apostles the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul.” Yet despite this divine commission we read a little farther on that Paul and Barnabas couldn’t get along, had a falling… Read More »
JUNE102020
Jesus tells us his plan of action: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” When you look at Sermon on the Mount as a whole you can see what the law fulfilled would look like. Instead of thinking in terms… Read More »
JUNE92020
Elijah is a major figures in Judaism. To this day, a place is set for Elijah at the Passover table. The Bible recognizes him as one who was zealous for God. His very name Eli-jah translates as “My God is Yahweh.” His complete dedication to God gets him in trouble with the king so he… Read More »
JUNE82020
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. They serve as a vision statement for the entire mission of Jesus. In the current social context one of the beatitudes stands out: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Those who are protesting the racism which is endemic… Read More »
JUNE72020
In The Color Purple Alice Walker reminds us how important it is to chase the wrong image of God out of our heads. If we think of God as a white man with a long beard sitting on a throne above it all our spiritual lives will be skewed. This monarchical portrait of God developed when… Read More »
JUNE62020
In many of the protest marches you hear the slogan chanted: No Justice, No Peace. The problem comes in imagining that these are choices. The protesters want justice. The government wants peace. For a Christian there is not a choice between justice and peace for they are two sides of the same coin. So when… Read More »
JUNE52020
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness. When St. Paul instructs his young apprentice Timothy that Sacred Scripture gives the wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus he is referring to the only Scripture he knew, the Hebrew Bible, what Christians call the… Read More »
JUNE42020
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The great commandment of Jesus, any school child could tell you, is love of God and love of neighbor. However, when you look at the commandments pronounced by Jesus there are three loves described: love of God, love… Read More »
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