One of the great teachers in the spiritual life, Meister Eckhart, said: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” That seems somewhat strange. What about prayers of contrition? or prayers of petition? Why is gratitude “enough?” What Meister Eckhart wants us to understand is… Read More »

The Battle Hymn of the Republic has the line: “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” This thought comes from the book of Revelation: “The angel swung his sickle over the earth and cut the earth’s vintage. He threw it into the great wine press of God’s fury.” Preachers… Read More »

Catholics approach the Book of Revelation with some caution since a proper understanding of the text requires careful interpretation. For example, when the book refers to the “144,000 who follow the Lamb” the John the Seer is not limiting those who will be saved to that specific number. Quite to the contrary, a correct understanding… Read More »

Although we don’t live in a kingdom, books and movies have given us some ideas of what kings and kingdoms are like. But those ideas are stood on their head on this particular feast day. What a strange sort of king we honor when we proclaim Christ to be our king. Instead of a lofty… Read More »

This week we remembered Cardinal Bernardine on the twentieth anniversary of his death. Part of his legacy that continues to echo in the Church is his “seamless garment” approach to issues of life. He reminded Catholics that issues relating to life are not limited to life in the womb but include anything that promotes human… Read More »

The money changers had legitimate business in the temple area. People would come to the temple to make an offering. However, the Roman coins had the image of Caesar on them and custom forbade a “graven image” in the temple area. The money changers were there to exchange a Roman coin for a “non-graven-image” Jewish… Read More »

John the Seer wept in the book of Revelation. “I shed many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it.” Jesus wept over the Holy City. “As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it.” We can conclude that not all tears are bad,… Read More »

The book of Revelation needs to be read with the intention of the author clearly in mind. John the Seer was providing a message of salvation not a preview of coming events. For example, we need to understand the meaning behind the text: “Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders… Read More »

There is a famous nineteenth century painting by William Holman Hunt entited The Light of the World. The painting is the artist’s depiction of a passage in the Book of Revelation.“‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine… Read More »