All this week between the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord, the readings concentrate on who Jesus is. Who is this Prince of Peace, this Christmas Christ Child born rejected, persecuted, and poor in a barn and placed to sleep in a feeding trough for animals? The...
Today’s gospel (Mark 6:45-52) has some verses that have always, for me, lingered between odd and troubling: “When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and [Jesus] was alone on shore. Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was...
Jesus is the manifestation of God’s love and compassion for all of us. God showed himself to Israel and to us constantly through indirect means: through the council and word of the prophets, judges, or kings; through occurrences in our personal lives or in historical...
Both the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John focus us clearly on the essential elements of our religious life, namely faith and love. In the Gospel we have the core of the Gospel or the Gospel within the Gospel in the famous passage John 3:16. “For God so loved...
Our culture has reduced the Christmas season to one day, the 25th, and even more so that one day has been reduced to one or two hours for opening presents and eating a meal. Then for most families the celebration is all over. We have lost a lot in the reduction and...
