I am a bit troubled by today’s readings. The gospel is this uncomfortable sequence in which Jesus, for the third time, has told his disciples “Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to...
Both readings today speak with a sharpness that may unsettle us but it is the sharpness of a physician’s scalpel, not a weapon. God is not condemning for the sake of condemning. He is calling His people back to integrity, back to a faith that is lived and not merely...
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” It is one thing to murder someone, to wantonly and mercilessly take...
St. James speaks today about temptation in a way that is both honest and disarming. He does not begin with dramatic sins or shocking failures. Instead, he speaks about desire; how temptation works from the inside out. “Each person is tempted when he is lured and...
In the gospel Jesus tells the crowd that what truly defiles a person is not what comes from the outside, but what comes from within. What comes out is likely an indicator of the conversion happening within. Take someone’s intentions, attitudes, choices, words –...
