(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times—according to online sources. Today it is again the center of…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Families can be SO annoying. Mutual agitation seems so embedded in human DNA that even ancient sages like Sirach had to pull back on our leashes as we started snapping…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) People wise to the ways of the world-wide-web know what it means to dox someone. Doxing is posting private and damaging documentation about an enemy. So, a newbie 21st Century…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) “A man named John was sent from God. He came to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” (JN 1:6-8) The priests and Levites of his…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) The technologies of construction and destruction teach us about two kinds of strategic bombing. Constructive bombing uses explosives to move earth, rock, or other materials to prepare the ground not…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Many of us use an Advent-house calendar to prepare, day-by-day, for Christmas. Its 25 doors typically contain scripture readings or meditations to put us in the mind of God. But…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) “Sleek” is a double-edged sword of a word. It can be used as a backhanded compliment to say “You’re slick” (as a used-car salesperson). Or, it could be used to…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) We’re all born with gifts. How we use them testifies to our character. No need for boasting, as Mom always told us. That’s what we do when we feel our…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) This Sunday’s readings seem tailored to appeal to the selfish among and within us. We’d be wise not to read them that way. They seemingly dangle wisdom before our eyes…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) It seems impossible for us modern humans to live up to the meanings of our given names. But think how hard that must have been for the gospel writers. Matthew…