In reading the gospels I am always struck by the elusiveness of Jesus Christ. It is extraordinary how realistic the portrait of Jesus is in the gospels. On the one hand he is incredibly complex, but then on another glance he is totally simple, straightforward and clear. You can't figure him out, and then you realize [...]
Calling Mary the “Queen of Heaven” seems to most non-Catholics a title too far. How can the simple girl from Nazareth be “Queen of Heaven”? Isn’t that a pagan term? In fact, isn’t the “Queen of Heaven” actually condemned in the Bible? In Jeremiah 44 the Hebrews are blamed for turning back to false gods and [...]
Some years ago I watched an amazing reality TV show. The producers took five men to the Gulf coast of Central America and they had to trek across the jungle to the Pacific coast. What made it interesting is that all five suffered from a disability. One fellow--a muscular African-American-- was in a wheelchair having lost [...]
I've got this theory that one of the great signs of authentic Christianity is comedy. I'm reading the letters of Flannery O'Connor at the moment and one of her great gifts is a razor sharp wit. She's funny, and one of the reasons she's funny is that she makes fun of herself. She takes herself lightly...even [...]
I was brought up in Evangelical Protestantism which has always been strong on individualistic religious experience, and often that experience was highly emotional, and whenever the emotions are involved, manipulation of some sort is always around the corner. We've all experienced the emotional blackmail imposed within families: "All I've done for you and this is the [...]
Assumption A long time she’d been fading. He noticed how upright and still she’d sit in her chair, gazing for silent hours through the latticed window into the late afternoon air. She ate almost nothing, spoke even less. He feared her mind and soul were wandering, but she seemed alert, listening to voices he could [...]
When I was an Anglican priest I used to walk from my apartment over to church for evening prayer every day. On the way I would walk past the house of a Jehovah's Witness. This particular JW was the sort of man who always had his hair combed, the car washed and probably went to bed [...]
I have been traveling the last week with my brother Don. He is a British sports car enthusiast so I tempted him with a vacation that combined that interest with our Catholic faith. We rented a Morgan and did a tour of site associated with the English martyrs of the Elizabethan period.Here's the car at our [...]
St Augustine's famous line, "O God, our hearts are restless until they rest in You" is the foundation of human desire. We are so often thrown out of our peace by our desires and we fear that if we follow our desires we will get into trouble. Therefore we retreat into a dull life of unquestioning [...]
Today's saint has become controversial because her identity is disputed. Luke 8:2-3 relates that she was one of a group of women who traveled with Jesus and supported his ministry. It also says Jesus cast seven demons out of her. She was present at the crucifixion and burial of the Lord and was the first witness [...]