Who in God’s name are we?
Mankind’s most serious sin is taking the Lord’s name in vain; not so much the GD and JC stuff, but the big I AM. We don’t often appreciate the importance of what saying I AM means. Moses did. Our first…
Transfiguration reveals our true identity
On this the second week of Lent, we receive an important reminder to help us stay focused on why this is such an important time in the Church year. Yes, we fast, but this is for renovation, not deprivation. The…
How the Devil did us a favor
It’s not often that we benefit from the devil’s actions, but this Sunday’s gospel reading shows him doing us a great favor. Indirectly, by trying to goad Jesus into several acts of selfish pride, we actually learn important lessons in prayer. Jesus’…
Gospel Truth according to Marx
After months of exposure to the self-serving hot air rising from some of the people fighting for the U.S. presidency, this Sunday’s mass readings are refreshingly Marxist. Groucho, not Karl. Groucho Marx once resigned his membership from an exclusive Hollywood…
Fear is the Father of Our Sins
We’ll never understand the struggle between love and hate until we also recognize their closest living relatives: wisdom and ignorance. We tend to believe that hate appears in the absence of love, but this Sunday’s mass readings teach us something…
And playing the part of the Holy Spirit is …
Hollywood has done good things with grand moments from the Old and New Testaments. When you think of “The Ten Commandments” in Hollywood terms you may think of Cecil B. DeMille directing Charlton Heston’s Moses to lead a cast of…
Spend Life Investing Your Winnings
If you’re reading this you probably didn’t win the $1.5 billion Powerball drawing this week. You may want to give thanks anyway, considering the awesome responsibility that comes with such a win. Ideally you’d want to use that sum in…
Baptized by Immersion in Truth
In this Sunday’s readings we celebrate the examples set by John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ in one shared sacramental act. We also witness two different styles of outreach in John and Jesus. In 21st century terms, these styles…
Tap the Power of Your Epiphanies
This Sunday we celebrate the epiphany of the Lord. This celebration is called THE epiphany, but it isn’t the only one our Lord inspired. He works through his people by epiphanies. They happen every day, just as miracles do—below our…
Dedicated to a Legacy
Visiting my parents’ grave on Christmas Eve, I realized something about the gravestone inscription that hadn’t hit me until then. When my father chose the epitaphs for my mother and himself, he didn’t use occupations or accomplishments to help visitors…