Contrary to some common assumptions, Jesus is not the ultimate Answer Man, but more like the Great Questioner. We know that Jesus asked over 300 questions. He is asked 183. He only answers 3.
Month: August 2021
Our Original Sin
G.K. Chesterton wrote “original sin is a fact, an observable fact one can “see in the street.”
Jesus and Friends
Are we friends with the Jesus who comes to us today in so many different bodies?
How many of them so we know and include among our friends?
Can we recognize our own blindness to the “hard sayings” that challenge us today?
An Unorthodox Orthodoxy Test
There are all kinds of orthodoxy tests. We might even pass an orthodoxy oral exam. But how many can claim to actually lead lives reflecting this belief in crisis situations.
Vincentian Embodiment of the Jesus Movement
The Jesus Movement is rooted in Jesus’ experience of the love of God urging the neglected to become aware of their dignity! The Vincentian Embodiment of that movement is rooted in doing what Jesus did.
Did Pope Francis Just Change the Our Father?
Not everyone has caught up to this yet… Pope Francis (and some national hierarchies) changed the phrase “lead us not into temptation” to “do not let us fall into temptation The reaction is somewhat predictable.
Are Catholics “Woke”? Should Catholics Be “Woke”?
Being “wole’ means different things for different for people on th eleft and the right. For Catholics being “woke ” can mean being awake to the implications of living in the Kingdom even here and now.
When Was the Last Time You Were Afraid?
Among the lessons of this feast is that all the things we can not understand now will one day be clear to us. She teaches us to trust that one day we will all understand the things that we can not understand and even rail against. Blessed is she who believed.
Can Stories Change the World?
Parents learn quickly the power of story as a pacifier. But these stories also shape values. Stories and the lived stories of their example are how we learn our values. – Jesus knew the power of stories! Do you really want to change things? Tell a story!
The Part of the Our Father We Skip
As I work my way through Pope Francis’ wonderful series of Wednesday audiences devoted to the Our Father, I have become more aware of how challenging this prayer is. Now…“forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.
Whose Daily Bread Do We Pray For – Mine? or Ours?
The bread a Christian requests in prayer is not “mine”, but “ours”.This is what Jesus wants.
“If one does not pray in this way, the “Our Father” ceases to be a Christian prayer.
If God is our Father, how can we present ourselves to him without taking each other by the hand?
Leaven or Fungus for “Thy Kingdom Come!”
Leaven is “a pervasive influence that modifies something or transforms it for the better.” Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. When are we leaven … and when are we fungi for the “Kingdom”?
August 6 – Transfiguration… or… Disfiguration?
What if we were to live in the transforming hope of Jesus’ Transfiguration and Resurrection? Will we feed the hope that can transfigure our world? If enough of us feed the spirit of the Transfiguration…
May God’s kingdom come!
Fathers and Mothers As Images of God
Our fathers and mothers give us insight into God. But “our Father in Heaven” speaks of love beyond the most loving of mothers and fathers.
Praying the Our Father For the “First Time”
I have read many thoughtful commentaries on the Our Father. Yet the Holy Father is helping me pray the Our Father as if for the first time.
Rom 16, 13 reads: "Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother—a mother to me also." If this…
Have a blessed Holy Week!
I have never thought about the people that were named in the Gospels. I would agree that they may be…
Generally, I love the laconic nature of Mark's Gospel. The Passion narrative is very compelling in its starkness, with one…
Father John, Blessings to you as you step cautiously down that new path. Grace and Peace be with you!