“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). When St. Paul sat down to write a letter to one of the churches, in Rome or Corinth or Philippi (as in our second reading today), […]
Learn more“You will see greater things than these” (Jo. 1:50). That’s what Jesus tells Nathanael when Philip brings him to meet the Messiah. Jesus tells him that before Philip called him, he had seen him under the fig tree. […]
Learn more“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27). St. Paul brings into bold relief the principal point he wants to make in our reading today. Without the benefit of italic, underlining, […]
Learn more“Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another… sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times” (Matt. 18:20). Peter’s […]
Learn more“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matt. 18:20). Jesus doesn’t talk much about the Church: he calls his followers “disciples” (Matt. 10:24) and even “friends” (Jo. 14:15), but rarely […]
Learn more“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer” (Rom. 12:12). St. Paul takes us out to the margin today, in our reading from Romans: to the boundary between the present and the future. The past is […]
Learn more“We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another” (Rom. 12:5). In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus makes a not quite solitary mention of the “church”: “on this rock […]
Learn more“When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God upon this mountain!” (Ex. 3:12). When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, as he does in our reading tonight, God laid out an agenda. […]
Learn more“Woman, great is your faith!” (Matt. 15:28). Faith is basic to the Christian life, so we ought not to be surprised that Jesus is talking about it in our Gospel today. Faith is trust in God: confidence on […]
Learn more“You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31). So, how much faith is enough? How much faith do we really need? Is it possible to have a little faith, but not enough? We know that Jesus […]
Learn more“Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions” (Rom. 6:12). Bob Dylan must have been channeling St. Paul when he wrote, “You’re gonna have to serve somebody.” That line is […]
Learn more“So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:31). Fear figures large in our Gospel today: in fact it’s mentioned three times by Jesus, as he sends out his disciples in mission. […]
Learn more“As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kgs. 2:11). There are some weird weather patterns where the […]
Learn more“Hope does not disappoint us” (Rom. 5:5). What is St. Paul talking about when he says, “Hope does not disappoint us” (Rom. 5:5)? That’s crazy: anyone who has ever hoped for anything knows what it is to be […]
Learn more“’Hoping against hope, he believed he would become ‘the father of many nations’” (Rom. 4:18). When it comes to hope, people have all sorts of ideas. Some see hope as a form of optimism: people are hopeful when […]
Learn more“’Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). We take life for granted: it’s the air we breathe and the water we drink. To imagine nothing in the place of our universe is to imagine ourselves […]
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