“Care for orphans and widows in their affliction and… keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27) St. James illustrates for us two paths of spirituality that we must keep in balance. On the one hand we should involve ourselves in our world to help our brothers and sisters inContinue Reading
From the beginning there were those who could not accept the offering of love and family God extends to His people. Many will follow, but only up to the point where they are challenged. Joshua challenged the Israelites to choose whom they will serve. Jesus challenged His followers with hisContinue Reading
Wisdom invites the simple and those without understanding to the banquet of eternal life. But how can the unwise comprehend what is offered to them? In a like manner Jesus offers Himself as food for eternal life and is confronted with ignorance. His invitation is understandable only in the lightContinue Reading
How do we define success? What is truly real and important? Are we taken in by the world’s measure of success, money, power, and popularity? We live in a world where selfishness and sin are frequently glorified and glamorized while true success is ignored. The rich and famous are heldContinue Reading
You could say that Andrew demonstrates for us today the maxim, “God helps those who help themselves.” Andrew shows us the type of faith we are to have as disciples of Jesus. The apostles are faced with a problem that does not seem to have a solution. How to feedContinue Reading
Is the Church behind the times? Or more precisely, are Church teachings behind the times? This is a complaint we hear frequently, claims that the teachings of the Church are outdated and need to keep up with the times. We must remember that the “teachings of the Church” do notContinue Reading
Rejection and failure are facts of our existence. As Christians we are sent into the world to preach the message of the Gospel, the message of Christ. We have each been given different gifts to accomplish this. We are taught to reflect Christ to such a degree that it isContinue Reading
Jesus came to His “native place.” He preached to those who had known Him since childhood, His friends, neighbors, and relatives. And although they were impressed by His wisdom and eloquence still they could not get past the fact that they knew him as just the carpenter. They took offenseContinue Reading
It sometimes seems that our pilgrimage here on earth takes us through a landscape of fear. We are surrounded by circumstances and situations we do not understand, and ignorance can lead us to live our lives in fear. We fear for our livelihood. Loss of income may compromise our abilityContinue Reading
There is a school of thought, a heresy really, that God is not active in the world. The idea is that God created the world, set it in motion, and then moved on to other things. But as Catholics we know this is not the case. God remains active inContinue Reading