To convey the prophetic message dramatically, Jeremiah would engage in parabolic action. The most famous of these (we’ll tell the story later this week) concerns his visit to the potter’s shed. God as the potter and we as the clay is a powerful image that we remember in song. What is less well know is… Read More »

I don’t know if it’s true in Chicago, but in New Jersey almost all of the mom and pop stores sold what was called a “dream book.” These books were designed to help you win the lottery. When you dreamed something at night – say a cat – you’d look up in the dream book… Read More »

Ours is an apostolic faith, a faith proclaimed by the apostles. We have the message of Jesus today because the men and women who were his followers told his story. As the saint of today, our patron, Saint James, illustrates ,the apostles were as limited and flawed as we are. We only get flashes of… Read More »

They will in those days no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD!” They will no longer think of it, or remember it, or miss it, or make another. Looks like Indiana Jones had it wrong! The prophet Jeremiah warns the Chosen People not to rely on anything external to themselves, even something… Read More »

Jeremiah was a sixth century BC prophet who worked in calamitous times for Judah, ending with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. His message of repentance fell on deaf ears. His strategy was to call the Jewish people back to their first love. Go, cry out this message for Jerusalem to hear! I remember… Read More »

Pope Francis recently raised the liturgical celebration of St. Mary Magdalene to the same status as that of an apostle. She is, after all, called the “apostle to the apostles” since she was the first one to announce the good news of the resurrection on Easter morning.  Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples,… Read More »

It is not about biology. It is not about blood. Jesus looks beyond the things that usually divide us to find a more fundamental unity.  “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” When we look at the social unrest characteristic of our age — Black Live Matter,… Read More »

You have been told … what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God. These words from the prophet Micah have been re-worked into a popular hymn by David Haas, “We are called.” Recently accusations of sexual impropriety have been lodged against him.… Read More »

A Parable from Elie Wiesel: When the great Rabbi Baal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a sacred fire, say a special prayer, the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple… Read More »

The Romans killed Jesus as a subversive, as someone rebelling against Imperial authority. The Jewish leaders had handed Jesus over to the Romans as a trouble-maker, as someone threatening their way of surviving in a hostile world.  Jesus’ followers knew he was neither of those things. To explain him to non-believers they quoted from the… Read More »