(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…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Churches have been ripe targets for scammers ever since Satan tried scamming Jesus in the desert. Jesus himself was accused of being the ultimate scammer when, after exorcising someone’s demons,…
Many of us have favorite scripture passages that reveal truths beyond words. They use vivid imagery instead. This Sunday’s letter from Paul to the Hebrews (Heb 4:12-13) describes graphically how the razor-sharp word of God works in us: like a…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Catholics have much in common with our Jewish brothers and sisters when it comes to what we hold sacred. Unity with God is paramount, and marriage in both traditions symbolizes…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Rebecca Knill is a 21st Century survivor of the same kind of evil Moses and Jesus exorcised from the minds of their disciples. Knill grew up deaf in a hearing…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) A recent movie, “Fly Me to the Moon,” was marketed as a tale about people intent on faking the Apollo 11 moon landing. This secret mission was to offer insurance…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) The title “Christ” is derived from the Greek word christos, which translates as the Hebrew term meshiah (Messiah), meaning “the anointed one.” Anointed is a loaded term in itself. To…
(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: ) Frank Sinatra scored a major hit with the song “All the Way” in 1957. It also received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in the movie “The Joker is…