Toppling the Pagan Idols Did the pagans really worship idols? If so, what was going on? To be precise, they did not worship idols as such, but they worshipped the gods who they believed the idols represented. But it was more than that. They also believed that the idols became the channels for the [...]
What is it that makes us so restless and so unhappy? Some say it is desire. The root of all unhappiness is desire. We desire what we do not have, and we desire more what we cannot have. But what is at the root of that desire? I think it is something else. It is fear. [...]
Life is a casting off... What is it in me that likes the difficult sayings of Jesus more than the easy sayings? Everybody loves Jesus who says, "Let the little children come to me" and "Neither do I condemn you" But have you read the gospels lately? Jesus' teaching is much more forceful and [...]
Are all evil spirits demonic? I don't think so, and here's why: From time to time I will have someone come to see me who thinks they are demon possessed. They may be hearing voices telling them to do bad things or they might be having hallucinations which they interpret as devils. They might have frightful [...]
Someone said recently that I have firmly declared myself to be a conservative. Indeed someone from New Jersey once said I am an "arch conservative." I am happy to take that label. I'm happy to take all the other labels too. To see what I mean go to this post: Call Me an Evangelical, Charismatic, Liberal, [...]
I had a terrific compliment last week. This person didn’t praise me for being extraordinary. She didn’t thank me for being intellectual or handsome or holy or amazing. She thanked me for being normal. We are so often attracted to what is weird. We follow the details of the lives of the stars of athletics and [...]
Protestants sometimes charge Catholics with "vain repetition" in praying the rosary. This is a reference to Matthew 6:7 where Jesus instructs, "When you pray to not babble with vain receptions as the pagans do." Sure, when we pray the rosary there is a lot of repetition. The problem is not repetition but vain repetition. If repetition were the [...]
Most of us know that simply praying for something you want is not the best way of praying. God is not a cosmic vending machine in which you put your prayer in the slot and the goodie you want drops into the tray at the bottom. Don't get me wrong. God delights in any prayer and [...]
St Francis of Assisi ...and can change you too. One of the things that makes St Francis so popular is that he was so utterly and completely converted. He was rooted and engrafted into Christ through several remarkable events that transformed him from the inside out. It is this profound and radical encounter with [...]
St Jerome This week has long been one of my favorites in the church year. Who can resist the sweetness, purity, power and goodness of all these saints and angels celebrated in one week! September ends with the celebration of the great heavenly warrior St Michael, and he is followed a day later by [...]