Tom Andel

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Nothing gets us closer to the divinity of the Holy family than the rebellion of our human family.  What’s the picture we get of Jesus this Sunday? A kid who…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) The gift of divine incarnation broke all the rules of the human jungle. Rule one is that only the strong survive. That means the small and powerless become food for…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Comedian George Carlin made people laugh, but he carried in his heart the anger of a confused atheist who lost faith in a God whose divine plan—he believed—could be changed…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Sunday’s responsorial psalm was turned into a hymn that would eventually give our pop culture the raw materials it needed to stereotype Christians and Christianity. It did so through a…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Advent promises life after death. God knows we need that assurance! God knows death frightens us. God also knows that staying alive during hard times can frighten us more. So…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Centuries ago, religious scholars didn’t believe “King” was a worthy description for an almighty God—a God who [they reasoned] “should have immediate and direct providence over everything.” Kings had to…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Christians and their Jewish brothers and sisters have one major element of faith in common: both believe in reincarnation. The reincarnation of God’s word, that is. Throughout the Old and…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Imagine you’re Elijah the prophet, meeting a poor widow preparing for her own death. She’s scrounging for scraps to prepare her last meal. Would you have the gall to ask…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Jesus passes an oral exam administered by a scribe in this Sunday’s gospel reading (Mk 12:28b-34). At least the scribe thinks he’s the administrator. “Which is the first of all…

(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Sin is humanity’s defining disability. Prayer is our special need. But as individuals, we prefer to apply the “Special Needs” label to anyone else—especially if we think they have intellectual…