St. Paul wrote two letters to the church in Thessalonica. It seems that there was a great deal of upset in that community because of speculation about the Second Coming of Jesus (the first century equivalent of Left Behind.) St. Paul urges them to stop fretting about tomorrow and live in the present tense. Don’t… Read More »

At the beginning of St. Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica he writes, as was his custom, “We always pray for you.” The idea of praying for one another can almost feel like a cliche. We often say the words too glibly. However, I remember when my mother died how consoling it was… Read More »

I asked a student once why he chose to study math. “Because there is only one right answer,” he responded. If people back in the day liked sure answers than Jesus must have driven them nuts. Have you noticed that Jesus very seldom gives a straight answer to a question? He tells a story, uses… Read More »

Jesus warns us about certain religious leaders: “do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.” St. Francis of Assisi is supposed to have said: Preach at all times. If absolutely necessary, use words. Pope Paul VI in his must read 1975 document, Evangelii Nuntiandi said something similar: “Modern man listens… Read More »

Everyone who takes the spiritual life seriously can relate to the image that the prophet Ezekiel proposes of “dry bones.” Often in prayer we go through periods of “dry bones” where we get no consolations despite our best efforts. Even St. Teresa of Kolkata talked about years of dryness in her diary. The prophet sees… Read More »

The prophet Ezekiel is a key figure in the Biblical understanding of God. The tradition until his time had been that the chosen people knew they were God’s people because they were given the promised land, because they had been established as a royal nation, because of God’s presence in the temple, because God preserved… Read More »

When I was a lad and there was one piece of pie left my mother would say to my sister and me, “One of you cut it into two pieces and the other choose which piece you want.” Believe me, that was one precision cut, exactly in half. It was only fair. One of the… Read More »

In the play Fiddler on the Roof the poor milk man, Tevye, imagines what it would be like to be a rich man. “If I were a rich man” they could ask me questions that “would cross a rabbi’s eyes.” He thinks, “and it won’t make one bit of difference if I answer right or… Read More »

The Bible does not report the death of Blessed Mother Mary. However, at least by the fourth century, a tradition celebrated “the Dormition of the Mother of God.” The word dormition, or falling asleep in the Lord, describes Mary’s death as being more than a natural process. Since Mary was the first believer in her… Read More »

Maybe because the Olympics are being played, I was struck by one line from the Epistle to the Hebrews: “persevere in running the race that lies before us.” We all know, “up close and personal” as the TV puts it, that life can feel like a race sometimes. We don’t call contemporary existence the “rat… Read More »