But he [the elder son] was angered and would not go in. –Luke 15:28– There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in
Read more
Magnetic Love
In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he has first loved us… –1 John 4:10– Once upon a time, a strong magnet fell in love with a slender nail. The magnet confided to the nail: “I love you. If you love me, become magnetized.”
Read more
All Saints Day 2001
Bethlehem Catholic High School I was wondering about the difference between a virtuous person, on the one hand, and a saint on the other. What makes the difference? I was mulling over this question, and I found the answer—in, of all places, the dentist’s chair. It’s September 5th,
Read more
Eloquent Oxen
Draw near to him [i.e. Jesus], a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen and honored by God. Be you yourselves as living stones, built thereon into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. –1 Peter 2:4-5– The early
Read more
First Things First
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat but swallow the camel! –Matthew 23:24– In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, people are obsessing about unimportant things such as television shows, all the while failing to take any notice of the war that is threatening to destroy their society. That
Read more
Signs of Authenticity
And they kept inquiring by signs of his father what he would have him called. –Luke 1:62– The account of the restoration of Zechariah’s power of speech (Luke 1:57-66) is one of my favorite biblical passages, because I believe it lends support to the reliability of the Evangelists, that
Read more
The Third Eye
A Talk for the Serra Club’s Dinner for Newly Ordained Priests I have often told Jesus that if I had to invent a religion, I could not come up with a seemingly stranger one than Catholicism. How can the Eucharist, what appears to be bread and wine, really be
Read moreJohn 3:16 – Aaron’s Story
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. –John 3:16– Just this past week, a friend sent me a YouTube link to a video by a young man named Aaron Harburg. It’s
Read more
Unencumbered
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. –Mark 6:8-9– One of my closest friends in the priesthood is Father Frans Berkhout, former principal of
Read more
Reception Misconception
But he [the bridegroom] answered and said, “Amen I say to you, I do not know you.” –Matthew 25:12– Years ago, my sister Elizabeth and her husband Rick were on their way to their friend Steve’s wedding some miles away from their home. Unfortunately, they got stuck in traffic and
Read more