St. Thomas probably thought the other apostles were engaged in wishful thinking. I wish Jesus was here too, but “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Thomas understood that it is not… Read More »

For the rest of the summer the readings will be taken from the prophets — the three major prophets and three of the minor prophets; Amos, Hosea and Micah. Prophecy means different things in the Bible. The ones we ordinarily recognize as “the prophets” were those who left us something in writing, the canonical prophets.… Read More »

The most casual reading of the Bible convinces one that the life of faith is not about prosperity, success, “winning.” There is a whole book dedicated to Lamentation. Signs of God’s presence are not limited to hitting the lottery, getting a clean bill of health, family concord. God is also present in loss, sorrow, grief.… Read More »

The Church celebrates the two figures most significant in the foundation of Christianity on the same day. Saints Peter and Paul were men with a common faith but with different temperaments and experiences that caused them to clash at times. In the tradition, Peter has come to stand for continuity — making sure that the… Read More »

Judea was eventually crushed. The Babylonians conquered the nation and took the people into exile. You can only imagine the crisis of faith this caused. God had promised Abraham a land. The land was taken from them. David had won for them a nation. The nation was destroyed. Solomon had built a temple where they… Read More »

After the disaster of the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel and the near disaster of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judea, the Jewish people entered into a program of reform. Led by King Josiah and inspired by the “discovery” of a book of the law (Deuteronomy?) the nation sought to change its ways to conform… Read More »

The siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian army is an event we know through both Biblical and non-Biblical sources. Both agree about one thing — that Jerusalem was not captured. “Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, broke camp, and went back home to Nineveh.” Where they differ is why this was so. The author of the… Read More »

In the year 721 B.C. the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. The people were deported and scattered among many nations. These deportees are remembered as “the ten lost tribes of Israel.” The historical situation caused profound soul searching on the part of the Jewish people. Why did God not protect them? Weren’t… Read More »

There is a special providence, given the current political turmoil, that the Church this day asks us to reflect on the birth of a child. Instead of thinking in terms of national policy, this feast, the nativity of St. John the Baptist, provides the occasion to examine how important a child is from God’s point… Read More »

Jesus did not leave us a list like the Ten Commandments of “dos” and “don’ts.” However, there are scattered throughout the gospels commands that the Lord did leave. They can come as a surprise. For example, we find one of the commandments of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take… Read More »