The prophet Samuel confronted King Saul: “Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams.” When engaged in Holy War (as Israel was in their fight against the Amalekites) there was to be complete destruction.  Saul justified the taking of booty in battle because it was to be used to make sacrificial… Read More »

  When you are going to go swimming are you the kind who dives right in or do you test the water with you toe first?  Although there were plungers when it comes to faith (St. Paul comes to mind) the gradual approach – toe, wade in up to the waist, finally sticking your head… Read More »

Saul’s father sent him out to look for asses who had wandered off. Being a dutiful son he did his assigned chore. Instead of finding the asses, he found a prophet, Samuel, who, in response to a revelation from God, anointed him as “commander over his heritage.” That is the way the will of God… Read More »

In T.H. White’s retelling of the story of King Arthur in The Once and Future King Arthur laments the failure of Camelot. He had hoped to bring about a just society by means of “Force Majeure,” by superior power. But he found that justice cannot be established by force. Something similar lies at the heart of… Read More »

For the first two centuries of Israel occupying the promised land they had been able to defend themselves against their enemies. The tribes would unite in times of danger and defeat the enemy. In the eleventh century a new enemy arose who were highly organized and militarized, the Philistines. The old ways no longer worked.… Read More »

During Ordinary Time the lectionary is structured as a “continuous reading” — we start reading from a particular book of the Bible and go though it chapter by chapter. This year begins with the first reading taken from the First Book of Samuel and the Gospel from St. Mark. It is thus a coincidence that… Read More »

Shows about cooking are popular in TV. There are magazines that send new recipes every month. Cookbooks are perennial best sellers. As interesting as it is to watch or read about food being made it is nothing like eating! A recipe is not a meal. Sometimes believers stress too much “the recipe,” the description of… Read More »

In each of the gospels and in the speeches in the Acts of the Apostles the baptism of Jesus is portrayed as a decisive turning point in his life. In different ways they downplayed the role of John the Baptist (who was the Baptizer after all!) so the focus would stay on Jesus. At his… Read More »

Everyone has their own reason for coming to Church today. Praying for the family, trying to get to heaven, mother making me — all good reason. The story of the magi shows that the real reason to come to Church is to meet Jesus, to see the face of God. Let us imitate the magi… Read More »

In his first epistle St. John writes that “the Spirit, the water, and the Blood” all testify “that Jesus is the Son of God.” These words echo the experience of Jesus at his Baptism. The Spirit, of course, descended on Jesus at his Baptism and named him as the beloved Son of God. The water… Read More »