6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Coming as they did from a Jewish background, some early Christians, thought that, in order to truly follow the teachings of Jesus, you began by keeping every bit of the Jewish law as handed down by God and interpreted by their ancestors. Other early Christians, equally serious about following Jesus, insisted that Jesus had brought a new way of thinking about the Jewish law, so that keeping the more than 600 laws that had grown up around the Ten Commandments was not the only w
16 hours ago4 min read
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a story told about Jonathan Swift, the 18th-century Irish writer, when he was quite old. And in case you don’t know who he is, he is the author of Gulliver’s Travels and many other works. He was visiting a friend and was looking out the front window of the house. It was nighttime, and the lamplighter was lighting the streetlamps. From the window, one could only see the lamps that were lit, and the light the lamplighter carried from one lamppost to the next. The lampl
Feb 84 min read
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I think the prophet Micah perhaps proclaims it best when declaring what is expected by God: “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic 6:8). I ask you to take a moment to remember some of the great members of the Church who have followed that call.
Feb 14 min read
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a story I heard several years ago of two boys, neighborhood friends, who became priests. Differing assignments made it impossible to spend much time together. When retirement came, they decided to share an apartment. By this time, one had become a die-hard conservative and the other an outspoken liberal. This arrangement might have been doomed, but their faithfulness to their shared Baptismal call won out. When anyone asked how they made it work, each would laughingl
Jan 254 min read
