Those of us of a certain age will remember when Pope John Paul II was the new, vigorous, dynamic embodiment of the papacy. He knew how to Pope. He set a remarkable standard for being pope with his world travels:129 countries in his twenty-seven years as the Holy Father. He had a custom, when he… Read More »

My scripture professor used to stress how blessed we were to have four gospels. Each of the evangelists tells the story of Jesus in his own way. Each evangelist writes not to provide us with information but to bring others to faith. In addition, not only do we hear what Jesus said and did in… Read More »

“Here comes that master dreamer! Come on, let us kill him and … we shall then see what comes of his dreams.” Whenever I read this passage from the Book of Genesis I think of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was the “master dreamer” of our time. What became of his dreams is captured… Read More »

When I was a young seminarian (sixty years ago!) they assigned me a spiritual director. He was to guide me in the ways of the spiritual life. One thing he kept stressing was “purity of intention.” I always felt like I wasn’t getting the message since my intentions, my motivations were always mixed. My dreams,… Read More »

St. Joseph believed in the dream that God had for him. He models for us the importance of trusting the dream. In our time Dr. King spoke about his dream of a more just and peaceful society. He believed that the God of justice was trustworthy and, though he didn’t get to see the fullness… Read More »

During forty-nine years of hearing confessions I have heard mostly from people who neglected to go to Church on Sunday, who did some kind of sexual transgression or who said something nasty about their neighbor. The point of confession is summed up well by the prophet Isaiah: Cease doing evil; learn to do good. What… Read More »

There is an Italian saying, to translate is to betray. (It sounds better in Italian.) The saying reminds us that when moving between languages you lose some nuance, some understanding that lay in the original. Jesus and his followers spoke Aramaic, a Hebrew dialect. His words were remembered by Aramaic speakers (since there was no… Read More »

My sister JoAnn was going to the prom. This is the sister who woke in the morning with curlers in her hair, whose skin peeled when she had a sun burn, whose hands and mouth were covered with Old Bay seasoning while eating crabs. But she was going to the prom so a visit to… Read More »

Today you are making this agreement with the LORD: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways… And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you. This two sided agreement is called forming a covenant.… Read More »

During World War II Count Helmut Von Moltke and his friends had discussed a Germany based on moral and democratic principles that could develop after Hitler. This was considered treason by the Nazi regime and he was put on trial. The real issue crystalized when the prosecutor said in court, “Christianity and National Socialism are… Read More »