In today’s first reading, we bring a week of Hosea to a close. The choice of readings paints an image of life with and without God. Monday: God spoke words of faithful, loyal love. “I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love...
In today’s first reading, the Northern Kingdom of Israel is being warned about the choices they have made and are making – and the consequences of those choices should they continue. As a whole, Hosea accuses Israel of three sins in particular. Instead of...
If you lived in the northern part of Israel some 750 years before Jesus, you were living during the reign of King Jeroboam II. The economy is good, the neighboring countries are envious of your peace and prosperity – life is good. There is only one problem: the...
Today is the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist. The gospel reading is taken from Luke and describes the scene when the child is born and, against the custom of the day, receives not his father’s name, but the name “John” as earlier commanded by the angel...
I have always wondered about the practice of nonprofit fundraising and especially large capital campaigns that offer naming opportunities to attract seven-, eight-, and nine-figure donations from high-net-worth individuals. As far back as the first century CE, Roman...
