One of the great blessings we have as a Church are the four gospels. Each of the evangelists, in the way they tell the story of Jesus, provides us with a particular perspective on how we encounter Christ. It seems clear to scholars that St. Luke had the gospel of St. Mark in front of… Read More »

The way of Lent is the way of JOY. Joy is probably not the first word you think of when pondering the meaning of Lent but look at the gospel for Ash Wednesday. It is taken from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus describes the three spiritual activities which characterize the season: prayer, fasting… Read More »

A certain kind of student (like me) would offer a fervent prayer to God when they sat down to take an exam that they hadn’t prepared well for. “Just get me throught this, Lord, and I’ll go to Church every day for a week.” People like us hadn’t heard the admonition from the Book of… Read More »

You have, no doubt, seen the news reporter interviewing the person who just won the lottery. Inevitably the response to their good fortune is some variation of “the Lord is really blessing me.” Which raises the question: if you don’t win the lottery does that mean the Lord is NOT blessing you? That seems to… Read More »

For every tree is known by its own fruit. While Jesus warns us against judging he understands that we still need to make decisions about our values, what we consider important. In particular we need to evaluate how to heed those who are in leadership. “Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work… Read More »

If we want to understand about the kingdom of God we should pay more attention to children. Jesus certainly referred to children often as he taught his disciples. “Become like a child…” “Receive a child…” “Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” When an adult receives a… Read More »

St. James is involved in a fund raising campaign for the Archdiocese. At the orientation those running the campaign said to aim for “aspirational giving.” In other words, don’t be content with ordinary giving but look at the needs that you aspire to achieve and seek the resources necessary to reach that goal. While I… Read More »

The Book of Sirach was so widely used in the early church for instruction in the moral life and in catechetics that it was known as “the Church Book,” Ecclesiasticus. For example, Chapter 5 begins, Rely not on your wealth; say not: “I have the power.” Rely not on your strength. The introduction to the… Read More »

“For whoever is not against us is for us.” David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, wrote recently of his spiritual journey. Jewish by heritage but non-practicing, as he aged and saw the situation in the world today he started looking for an anchor, a set of values to help him make sense of things… Read More »

Several times Jesus held up children as models for life in the kingdom of God. He once famously said we needed to “turn and become like little children” as his followers. In the Gospel of Mark we find Jesus saying: “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me.” Not become like… Read More »