God asks for a sacrifice of love
Visiting a very poor country is often a disturbing experience but it can also be moving and enlightening. Many people who are living in stark poverty practise incredible generosity and hospitality. People share with a visitor or guest what little they have and it is done with a pleasant and joyful attitude.
Intimacy is no dream, it’s flesh-and-blood reality
After intensive soul-searching and searing heartache, a person I know has divorced. She aches for her children and for herself as a Catholic facing lonely solitude. A faithful person, she thought she was following the voice of love, both in getting married and in the way she tried to live her marriage. How could love have led her to divorce?
Christ is the perfect mediator between God and humanity
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Nov. 5 (Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Psalm 18; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28-34)
People go out of their way to make religion a frightfully complicated affair. But it is simple — not easy, but uncomplicated.
Faith will keep you whole
The seventh and sixth centuries BC were at least as violent and uncertain as our own times. Death and devastation came swiftly and mercilessly for nations and cities who failed to submit to the Assyrians. In 722 BC, the Northern Kingdom of Israel ceased to exist, as it was laid waste and its inhabitants dispersed or taken captive.
Those seeking Jesus willingly serve others
Who was the suffering servant of Isaiah? Obviously it referred to an anonymous figure in the prophet’s own time — the sixth century before Christ. He was a figure whom others reckoned as a loser, for he appeared to be suffering needlessly. And yet there was much more than meets the eye, for he was a man on a mission from God of great importance to his people.
True 'wisdom figures' reflect God's truth
Who are the "wisdom figures" of our culture? Genuine wisdom figures are not those who have all the answers or possess the truth. Rather, wise people are those who have mastered the art of living as an authentic human being.