God is not fair. “God’s ways are not our ways,” said the Prophet. Think of the cliches in our culture: there is no such thing a free lunch; if you work hard enough you will succeed; a penny saved is a penny earned. The mentality is: this much work gets you that much reward. We… Read More »

This summer we have been reading the Old Testament. The first five books, the Pentateuch; next, the book of Joshua, and this week the book of Judges. Judges is a story of one disaster after another. God raises up “judges” periodically to get the Israelites out of the various jams. Gideon is one such judge… Read More »

Jesus described himself as “meek and humble of heart.” That means it was not about him; he always referred back to the one he called his Father. “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good.” No doubt this is what was so attractive to his followers. The meekness… Read More »

Satan decided to make some strategic plans with three and five year goals (… in case you wondered where that came from.) He called all the devils, demons, imps and fiends together for a summit meeting on temptation. What can we do to lead people to sin, asked Satan? Lucifer gave his opinion. We can… Read More »

In one sense it is a tragedy that individuals, families or even countries that used to be Catholic have abandoned the faith. The “nones,” those who have no religious affiliation, are the fastest growing religious demographic. On the other hand, the fact that the faith is no longer presumed, no longer simply part of the… Read More »

After the Hebrews fought their way into the Promised land in the book of Joshua the word of the Lord came to the people. “I gave you a land that you had not tilled and cities that you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did… Read More »

According to legend the apostles gathered when the Blessed Mother was dying. St. Thomas, coming all the way from India, did not make it before her death so when he arrived three days later he asked if they would open up the tomb. When they did so, there was nothing but Mary’s burial clothes. The… Read More »

In the Acts of the Apostles you can get the impression that the early Church used to get along perfectly and sing kum-ba-ya together. The epistles of St. Paul demonstrate that those first Christians, like all later Christians, had to work to create unity. In St. Matthew’s Gospel Jesus describes a three step process “when… Read More »

Jesus said, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.” I’ve heard sermons, perhaps you have, urging us to be as “innocent” as children. My guess is that those giving such sermons grew up as an only child and have had no children of their own. Children can… Read More »

One of the curiosities of our age is how in certain quarters the Bible is invoked to justify a particular political opinion, for example to condemn homosexuals. At the same time some ignore Biblical passages that differ from their political stance. In the Book of Deuteronomy we read: “For the LORD, your God, is the… Read More »