We’ve all heard the expressions: “How do you make God laugh? Tell God your plans.” Or as the Imitation of Christ put it: “Man proposes and God disposes.” One of the Biblical antecedents to these sentiments is found in the epistle of St. James. We read there:  “You should say, ‘If the Lord wills it, we… Read More »

A few years ago there was a movie called The Gods Must Be Crazy. It begins in a small village in Africa. The people are poor but they work together in mutual support. One day a single engine plane flying overhead drops an empty coke bottle that falls into the village. Pretty soon the villagers are… Read More »

 There is a most poignant conversation between Jesus and the father of the epileptic boy in Mark’s Gospel. When the father asked for a cure Jesus said to him, “All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Isn’t that our story as… Read More »

Jesus is a historical character. He lived in a specific place at a specific time and did specific things. You can use the tools of history, archeology, anthropology to study him. However, Jesus is not simply a historical character. There are aspects of his identity which are beyond our ken. He is the same, yesterday,… Read More »

“Lord, what about him?” St. Peter, like all of us, tended to worry about the other guy instead of looking at himself. This question arises right after Jesus demands to hear Peter’s three-fold declaration of love and Peter hears the command to tend the sheep. Instead of focusing on what that means in his life… Read More »

During the fifty days of Easter the first reading assigned each day is taken from the Acts of the Apostles. As we read those stories we see how faith in the Risen Jesus galvanized those first believers into bold missionaries. The gospel text is usually taken from St. John’s Gospel, for the last few weeks… Read More »

Once at a youth camp there was a fascinating exercise. We divided the group up into the light-haired (blonds and red heads) and the dark haired (brunettes and those with black hair.) We treated the two groups differently. The dark haired got new shirts, better meals, the best seats, more attention. The light haired were… Read More »

John Henry Newman once observed that to grow is to change, to grow perfect is to change much. But change is hard. We see that in the farewell discourses that St. Paul gives to the elders at Ephesus and that Jesus gives to his disciples in the Gospel of John. The elders and disciples don’t… Read More »

Scholars call chapter 17 of St. John’s Gospel the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. The evangelist carefully constructed the prayer and it can serve as a model for our own life of prayer. Jesus begins by praying for himself. He then prays for his disciples and finally opens up his prayer to include the whole… Read More »

The story of the selection of Matthias as an apostle is very instructive on what it means to follow the will of God. Peter and the other followers of Jesus first search the scriptures about what to do. Then, they look at how their experiences guides their choice. But at the end of that process… Read More »