When people mention “Baltimore Catechism” it’s usually in some derogatory way—either as “old-school” and naïve or simplistic and irrelevant. But one of the core questions in that catechism asks “Why did God make me?” The answer goes, “God made me…
As children we tend to love teachers who are nice, offer lessons we can easily understand, and grade on a generous curve. By the time we’re adults and we’ve learned a bit more of what life has to teach us,…
Prophets have been preparing us for Christ’s coming for centuries, as we see in this Sunday’s readings. In our gospel passage (Lk 3:1-6), Luke tells how John the Baptist fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy of a voice crying out in the desert:…
It may seem strange that on the first Sunday of Advent, a season we equate with joy by recalling the first coming of Christ, that our mass readings dwell on the second coming and the terror some may face as…
When we read or hear the gospels, it’s easy to picture the scenes in our head—like a motion picture. This Sunday’s readings lend themselves to that exercise, as dramatic as they are. In John’s gospel, for example, we have a…
A great philosophical debate started a few centuries ago when someone asked: “If a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Earthbound scientists thought that was an easy one,…
Humanity’s faith in God is a miracle. He makes the little that we offer Him go a long way—without being showy about it. His most beautiful miracles in the Bible are displays of subtlety. In the book of Kings (),…
Halloween was once a holy day to remember the dead. Over the centuries it became secularized into a holiday marked by dressing in costumes mimicking the dead and concealing our living identities. This Sunday’s mass readings are a good opportunity…
There’s a bit of deja vu in this week’s gospel reading. Jesus repeats the same question he posed in last week’s reading: “What do you want me to do for you?” The answers to his question in both cases are…
Jesus gave us many parables by which to gauge and change our behavior. His story-telling has influenced authors for centuries and explains why we can still find great truths in all forms of fiction. As we approach Halloween we’ll be…