One of the twelve minor prophets in the Bible is Nahum. His Book is only used once in the lectionary of readings for the liturgy. He wrote sometime around the time of the fall of the Assyrian empire in 612 B.C. The prophecy asserts that Assyria got what he deserved. It was only right that… Read More »

St. Peter must have gotten whiplash. First, Jesus praises him as receiving divine revelation and as the rock on which the Church would be built. Then a few minutes later, Jesus is calling him Satan and telling him to get out of his sight. “You are not thinking as God thinks,” says the Lord. What… Read More »

Some scholars seek to name what the Jesus of history actually said and did as can be reliably stated according to scientific historiography. The scene of Jesus encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman has the ring of an actual event according to historians since it doesn’t paint Jesus in a positive light according to their standards.… Read More »

Jeremiah rejects the Pollyanna view proposed by Hananiah. The actions of Israel will have consequences. Sin will work itself out. But Jeremiah is not all gloom and doom. He offers a message of hope as well. Even though there is some suffering to get through in order to chastise the people (the Biblical version of… Read More »

The Bible refers to both Hananiah and Jeremiah as prophets. Both claim to be speaking for God, but they are offering opposite points of view. How can you tell which is the authentic voice of God? According to the Bible the only sure measure is to wait to see how things turn out and then… Read More »

“Bling.” It’s all about wearing the right clothes, having the best jewels, going to the “in” parties, driving the biggest cars, living at the toniest address. Apparently that is what some people aspire to. Bling. However, if there is one thing that the Bible in general and Jesus in particular warns against it is the… Read More »

The events reported in the Bible have, of course, great spiritual lessons for us. However, those spiritual lessons are found in contexts remarkably like our own — with power politics at play, with economic forces at work, with national interests competing. Herod and John the Baptist represent two different approaches to the Roman occupation of… Read More »

The assigned reading two weeks ago was the gospel passage from St. Luke telling the story of Jesus visiting the home of Martha and Mary. Today in what is known as the Sanctoral Cycle the Church remembers St. Martha as well. Whenever things happen like that back to back I always take it as God… Read More »

Jesus had seen fishermen throwing their nets many times. Jeremiah had observed a potter at the wheel often. However, upon further reflection these very ordinary human activities spoke of the action and presence of God. We need to develop that same ability to recognize the signs of God’s presence. I recently came across a dredge… Read More »

There is a saying: “Experience is the best teacher.” That is not exactly true. We can have many experiences that don’t teach us a thing. It would be more accurate to say “reflection on experience is the best teacher.” Only when we take a step back and delve into the meaning of an experience and… Read More »