God has many ways of speaking with us: the Word of God, events in our lives, historical situations, council from our friends, tradition, and Church teachings. Another way God speaks to us is through the lives and example of the saints. Sometimes we think that the...
Mark wants to establish early-on in his Gospel who Jesus is and the authority of his teachings. The religious leaders of his time centered their teachings on traditions and laws. The purpose of the Law given by God to the people of Israel was to produce holiness – a...
Most people will miss what is happening in today’s Gospel. Most of us modern day listeners would tend to focus on the expulsion of the demons and lose the rest of the importance in today’s Gospel. Then we even tend to explain away the expulsion using modern science,...
Today we find Jesus acting to cure a terrible disease called leprosy. This was a very scarry disease in the times when Jesus lived. I was incurable and contagious. The lepers had to live outside of the town, and they could only support themselves through begging. They...
When Jesus returns to this hometown at the beginning of his public ministry, he chose the reading from the prophet Isaiah that we just heard. It was obviously a reading that set the tone for his whole ministry. As such it should also be foundational in our own...