Ash Wednesday is not an obvious time to reflect on the Trinity. On the other hand, Christians continue to talk about the One God as Trinity so that we will understand that relationship is of the very essence of God. God cannot be God except as the unified relationship of the three divine persons. As… Read More »
FEBRUARY132024
Each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin. St. James in his epistle sees desire as the immediate cause of sin. A contemporary philosopher, Rene Girard, refines that insight by seeing what he called mimetic desire as the root cause. Mimetic desire has “imitation” as… Read More »
FEBRUARY122024
James is a common name in New Testament times. It is an anglicized version of Jacob, one of founding patriarchs of the Jewish people. Two of the apostles are named James. There is a James called “the brother of the Lord.” And there is the author of the Epistle of James. (The Greek in the… Read More »
FEBRUARY112024
St. Paul said: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” How can I imitate Christ? I am not capable of curing a leper as Jesus did. In fact, my success rate at working miracles has about a 0.0 average. I cannot even find the right things to say very often which would bring… Read More »
FEBRUARY102024
Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes was obviously a big deal for the early Church. Each evangelist tells it so we hear the story six times! In Mark’s telling what lies behind the miracle is the compassion of Jesus. “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd.” When we look around in our world… Read More »
FEBRUARY92024
At the conclusion of the liturgy of baptism the celebrant performs the rite of Ephphetha by touching the lips and ears of the newly baptized while saying: “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the mute speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith,… Read More »
FEBRUARY82024
We tend to paint the heroes of the past with a golden hue: George Washington, Father of the Country, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, James Madison, Father of the Constitution. The fact that these men could champion that “all men are created equal” and “liberty and justice for all” while still owning… Read More »
FEBRUARY72024
The queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon’s fame, arrived in Jerusalem with a very numerous retinue, and with camels bearing spices, a large amount of gold, and precious stones. This short account in the Bible has produced many stories in Jewish, Christian, Coptic and Muslim literature. Sheba was probably today’s country of Yemen. (The… Read More »
FEBRUARY62024
Throughout the gospels there are a series of conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees. So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders?” Were the Pharisees the enemies of Jesus? Recent scholarship suggests that the conflicts described in the four gospels reflect more the period when… Read More »
FEBRUARY52024
The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, the holy of holies of the temple. Solomon sought to continue the policy of his father, King David, to center all power — religious and political — in Jerusalem. He built the… Read More »
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