The tradition of the Church speaks of three “theological” virtues: faith, hope and charity. Faith we get — needing to put our trust in God’s plan for us. Charity we get — love is the foundation of a truly human life since it reflects the life of God. Hope does not play as large a… Read More »

The epistle to the Hebrews provides an account of the prayer of Jesus that the gospel writers report happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. “He was… Read More »

Several years ago, there was a small drama when my sister was getting married. Being from a large family herself and with her husband-to-be one of ten children she wanted to keep the number of invited guests to a reasonable number so she decided that first cousins would be as far up the family tree… Read More »

From the days of the cave men and in every culture there are have priests, those who were set aside to handle sacred things. People were aware of the gap between the gods and themselves so they needed mediators, those set apart, who knew how to deal with the holy. The rest of us are… Read More »

A friend of mine wrote a book about the “silent witnesses in the gospels” and the four friends of the paralyzed man are featured prominently. In most miracle stories the petitioner approaches Jesus with a need and after the cure Jesus says something like “Your faith has saved you.” The paralytic never utters a word… Read More »

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews criticizes Israel by quoting from Psalm 95:  ‘they do not know my ways.’ For me, the problem is not that I don’t know God’s ways but that I just don’t do them. The scene in the gospel of Mark where Jesus heals the leper rings true. After the… Read More »

Our usual picture of Jesus is as the great preacher, the miracle worker, the one acting with authority. While all of that is true it can tend to distance Jesus from us, to put him on a pedestal so far above us. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews offers a corrective to that… Read More »

In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” In St. Mark’s Gospel one of the ongoing themes is what scholars call the “messianic secret.” The apostles and others around Jesus just… Read More »

For the next several weeks we are in ordinary time in the Church’s calendar — not that the time is ordinary but that it is counted (think of the English term “ordinal numbers.”) In ordinary time the liturgy does what is known as the “continuous reading” where a particular book of the Bible is read… Read More »

The baptism of Jesus was a big deal for the four evangelists. Each of the gospel writers tells the story in their own way. In St. John, the baptism is referred to obliquely as John the Baptist recognized Jesus “when the Spirit descended upon him like a dove.” In St. Matthew’s Gospel it was at… Read More »