Mine your Shaft for Light

“King of the Universe” is a big title for a poor carpenter. But God never chose obvious leaders. This Sunday’s first reading profiles another of God’s chosen leaders—David, a poor shepherd. It was he, the youngest and smallest of Jesse’s…

Learning God’s Language for a Living

When you’re born into Christianity, you’re told to act more Godlike. Telling a kid to act more Godlike is like expecting someone to learn a foreign language in a classroom. It’s hard. It’s easier to learn another language if you…

The Hell of a Pastime Paradise

They’ve been spending most their lives Living in a pastime paradise They’ve been spending most their lives Living in a pastime paradise They’ve been wasting most their lives Glorifying days long gone behind They’ve been wasting most their days In…

Thank God for His Son of Man Syndrome

This Sunday’s readings remind us—as if we needed reminding—of how small we are in relation to the divine. The first reading from the book of Wisdom sets the tone: “Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from…

Shaken Awake, Stirred to Action

Today’s readings have some of the raw materials of every great James Bond story. Bond’s success depends on his meetings with Q, who equips 007 with the tools he’ll need to accomplish his mission. “Equips” is the key word here…

Jesus Frees Us from the Prison of our Skin

Those weren’t lepers in today’s readings. They were sightless—blind as Helen Keller. But by God’s grace, some were given visibility of who they were in relation to God—and to their neighbors. And like Helen Keller, their breakthrough moment was the…

A Banana Peel Away from Hell’s Chasm

There’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy—but always an important moral in both. The parable of the rich man who winds up in hell while the poor man he ignored to death ends up in God’s eternal presence is…

Our Generation is Moved like Jagger

Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah but what’s confusing you Is just the nature of my game. Mick Jagger could have had Jesus in mind when he wrote “Sympathy for the Devil.” At least he…