“Every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” While Jesus was giving a fresh understanding of our relationship with God (we do call it the New Testament, after all) his way must always be… Read More »

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried, … a merchant searching.” The images that Jesus used to help us understand the spiritual life tell us that God is hiding in plain sight. There a rather obscure play by Anthony Newley which begins with a song. “There is a beautiful land where all your… Read More »

“The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another.” It is no wonder that Moses is so revered in Judaism — that kind of intimacy with God is what we all strive for. To reach that point in our own prayer life Moses gives us a few hints.… Read More »

The meeting of Martha and Jesus at the tomb of her brother, Lazarus, was filled with human emotion. Jesus himself wept. When Jesus talked with her about having faith in the resurrection of the dead she basically said, “I know that but that knowledge is not helping me at this moment of loss.” Then Jesus… Read More »

Have you ever watched hummingbirds? My recent retreat was in silence so during meals I would look out the window at the hummingbird feeder: small birds but beautiful to look at with the ruby collar and the iridescent feathers and acrobatic flying who would make any stunt pilot envious with their ability to start, stop,… Read More »

“If you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest.” Jesus lived in an agricultural society and used images that people could relate to. The parable of the sower made sense to them. The image of weeds and wheat growing up in the same field… Read More »

The Ten Commandments contain this admonition: “You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves.” Whew, you can think, I might have trouble with some of the commandments but at least I am not an idol carver. Israel’s neighbors had idols. In fact, one of the ways a conquering… Read More »

“We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.” The image of an “earthen vessel” is given to us on the feast of an apostle, St. James, our patron. It serves as a vivid reminder that those who bring good news, the gospel, to others… Read More »

“A Sower went out to sow.” The way Jesus tells the parable focuses on the sower. In the explanation of the parable a little later in the chapter the emphasis shifts to what happens to the seed after it is sown and most times that is where preachers have tended to focus. Are we good… Read More »

First it was Ireland, and now Poland. The Catholic Faith which was a given in those countries is waning in importance. In Latin America the presence of the evangelical sects has been happening for some time but in a recent census in Mexico the fastest growing group were “the nones,” those with no religious affiliation.… Read More »