“More Catholic than the Pope.”  There is nothing more quintessentially Catholic than the Papacy.  When we think “Catholic,” we think Rome, the Vatican, the dome of St. Peter’s.
But the roots of the papacy actually go back to Jerusalem and the messiah-kings who ruled there.
Like most heads of state, David and his descendants, the anointed kings […]

The apostles thought she was a nuisance and asked Jesus to get rid of her.  Jesus had gone to the region of Tyre and Sidon, modern-day Lebanon, and a local woman approached him for a favor.  This was pagan country, home turf of the infamous Jezebel.  The inhabitants of these parts were fondly referred to […]

Only one miracle of Jesus is recorded in all four gospels — the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
I once heard a homilist give what he said was the real meaning of the story: the people in the crowd took out food they were hiding under their cloaks and shared it.  Jesus’ preaching inspired the […]

At one time or another, we’ve all dreamed of a perfect world.  Imagine a company where everyone is productive, a government full of honest politicians, a church where all are saints.
Dreaming about such things is natural; expecting such things is dangerous.  Unrealistic expectations lead to discouragement, despair, even cynicism.  That would be bad enough.  But […]

“Self” magazine is certainly a sign of the times.  This is an age when it is socially acceptable to admit that life is all about me.
But selfishness is nothing new.  Ever since Eve bit into the apple, human beings have made the choice to dethrone God and put in His place the unholy trinity of […]

Father’s Day invited us to ask a very important question — what does it mean to call God “Father?”  Most of the great religions of the world believe in one God and teach the gist of the ten commandments.  But that the Supreme Being is not just “King of the Universe” or “Master” but “Father,” […]

When people meet me and find out that I’m a Catholic theologian, it does not take long before they pop the question: “Why doesn’t the Catholic Church let women and married men be priests?”
Now the fun begins.  “There must be some mistake,” I respond.  “The Catholic Church has had female and married priests from the […]

The Catholic Church teaches that in the Eucharist, the wafer and the wine really become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  Have you ever met anyone who finds this a bit hard to take?
If so, you shouldn’t be surprised.  When Jesus spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood in John 6, the […]

Many are ready to give a polite nod of some sort to Jesus of Nazareth.  Most honor Him as a great moral teacher.  Many even confess Him as Savior.  But the Incarnation of the Eternal God?  Second Person of the Holy Trinity?  God can’t be one and three at the same time.  Such a notion […]

The atheist philosopher of the 19th century, Friedrich Nietzsche, once said "If Christians want me to believe in their Redeemer, they need to look more redeemed."
He was drawing the wrong conclusion from a perceptive observation.  To Nietzsche most Christians looked just as burdened, clueless and lost as everybody else.  When he looked into their eyes, […]

Lent is a time of introspection.  We read Exodus and watch the Israelites grumble, even after the amazing things God had done for them (Ex 17:3-7).  In them, we recognize ourselves.  For many of us, then, Lent is time for the spiritual equivalent of New Year's resolutions.  We set aside time to work on ourselves for […]

Imagine: you are ten years past customary retirement age.  It's time finally to kick back and relax.  You live in a great city where everything is at your fingertips — shopping opportunities, cultural events, all your relatives and lifelong friends.  Suddenly God appears and tells you to pack up, uproot your life, and march into […]

As I crossed the great divide of puberty, I formed a vivid image of God.  He was a grumpy old man with a frown on His face.  Every time anyone tried to have a little fun, He'd shout "Thou shalt not!"
But to really live and not just exist, you had to do the daring, "sinful" […]

Flick on the television, turn to the news, and notice how hopeless things look.  Terrorists kill hundreds and intimidate millions. Sub-prime mortgage crisis pushes the economy to the brink of recession.
The future appeared equally bleak in first century Galilee.  The king was a lackey of the hated Romans.  Traitorous tax collectors took a big cut […]

When I was growing up, we were urged to pray for vocations.  That meant to pray for more priests and nuns.  After all, they were the ones especially called by God.  The rest of us had to figure out for ourselves what to do with our lives, what school to go to, who to marry, […]

The Jews were unique in the Ancient world.  Not only did their religion forbid them to worship gods other than the Lord, but their prophets actually taught that the gods of the nations were mere figments of the imagination.  They did not exist at all.
This seemed odd to the Greeks and Romans who not only […]

Caspar, Balthasar, Melchior.  These "three kings of Orient are" found, complete with crowns and camels, in every nativity scene.
Yet if you look closely at the gospel account of the Magi (Mat 2:1-12), you won't find these names.  Actually there is no mention of how many Magi there were or that they were kings riding camel-back.
This […]

As fall moves onward toward winter, we have places to go, things to do, people to meet.  Yet as we go about our business, we notice the days are getting shorter.  Sweaters come out of storage, we close the windows, and turn on the heat.
Advent is a season where we stop and remember that […]

Whenever I lead a trip to the Holy Land, the question inevitably comes, "Will we visit Armageddon?"  This refers, of course, to the battlefield surrounding the ancient city of Megiddo where some think the final confrontation will take place before the end of the world (Rev 16:16).  Catholics and Protestants alike have a fascination with […]

Given their history, it seems rather strange.  After all, for hundreds of years the Jews lived alongside a race that was totally preoccupied with life after death.  The Egyptians built pyramids that were wonders of the ancient world.  But their sole purpose was to launch their leaders into the next world.
Yet the Jews really had […]

Tax collectors have never been popular.  But in Roman Palestine, they were particularly hated.  It was bad enough that they collaborated with the foreign oppressors.  It is understandable that the Jews felt the same way about the Romans as the French did of the occupying Nazis in World War II.
But the Roman system of "tax […]

Our society tolerates religion, as long as it keeps to itself.  After all, America is about the separation of Church and state, right?  Education, entertainment, employment, and politics are supposed to be "religion-free."  The removal of a statue of the Ten Commandments from an Alabama courthouse several years ago was just one sign of this […]

Everyone knows the Bible stories of the Prodigal Son and the Golden Calf.  But they don't usually put the two together as this Sundays' readings do.  So what do the two tales have in common?
Answer: they both speak volumes about the nature of sin.  Think about it.  God sees an enslaved people in miserable bondage […]

"Nice guys finish last," says the world.  "The last will be first," replies Jesus.
My guess is that the Lord of creation knows best who really wins in the end.  And he says in  yesterday's gospel, "whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11).
To understand why the humble get […]

Start small, finish big.  That seems to be God's motto.  He begins salvation history with two people from what is now Iraq.  When planning to raise a really big family, why start with an elderly couple who've never been able to have kids?  But this is precisely what God does.  He turns the sterile Abram […]

 
I recently visited Italy, Spain, and France and was reminded of the religious contrast between America and Europe.  In Europe, large numbers of people consider themselves to be agnostics or even atheists.
In America, something like 95% of the population "believes in God."  Nearly as high a percentage also believes that there is a life after […]

C.S. Lewis' literary name for him was the "Bent One," an apt name for the one the Bible calls "Satan" or the Accuser.  The perverse choice he made to serve himself rather than his creator warped his nature, and ever since, his delight has been twisting anything he can get his hands on.
Take sexual desire for instance.  […]

I recently got a harsh letter from a Baptist lady protesting that she could not find the word "Catholic" anywhere in the Bible.
True, the earliest occurrence of the term is in a letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch, written 20 years after the last book of the New Testament.  But the idea that the Church […]

Spirituality is really about the soul and the things of the soul.  The body and its needs do not matter.  In fact, the body is the soul's prison.  Salvation is really the liberation of the soul from the dead weight of the body.  So in this life, physical desires are to be resisted, even extinguished, […]

Father's Day invites us to ask a very important question — what does it mean to call God "Father?" 
Several of the great religions of the world believe in one God and teach the gist of the ten commandments.  But that the supreme Being is not just "King of the Universe" or "Master" but "Father," that […]

Catholics don't just go to church on Sunday, like other Christians.  They go to Mass.  Christmas, New Years, weddings, funerals.  It seems that we just can't seem to do anything important without this ceremony which some regard as a sacrifice and others as a fellowship meal and still others as "the real presence."
So which is […]

Many are ready to give a polite nod of some sort to Jesus of Nazareth.  Most honor him as a great moral teacher.  Many even confess him as Savior.  But the Incarnation of the Eternal God?  Second person of the Holy Trinity?  God can't be one and three at the same time.  Such a notion […]

The celebration of the Ascension used to leave me a bit flat in bygone years.  It was clear what Good Friday did for me.  And Easter Sunday's benefits were indisputable.  But as for the Ascension, what was in it for me?
Christianity is about a special kind of love we call agape or charity.  It is […]

The Gospels tell an incredible story.  A virginal conception.  Miraculous healings.  Even people coming back from the dead.  How are we to know that it's not all just a fanciful fabrication?
There is much evidence for the reliability of the Gospels, but here is one of the strongest bits of evidence I know.  Think for a […]

Several years ago, the Catholic Church declared the Sunday after Easter "Divine Mercy Sunday."  So what exactly is "mercy" anyway, and what does it have to do with the Easter season?
Mercy is not just pity.  Neither is it simply sparing someone the punishment that they deserve.  No, mercy is love's response to suffering.  When mercy […]

The serpent's bite was a deadly one.  The venom had worked its way deep into the heart of the entire human race, doing its gruesome work.  The anti-venom was unavailable until He appeared.  One drop was all that was needed, so potent was this antidote.  Yet it was not like Him to be stingy.  He […]

Sundown today, Holy Thursday, marks the beginning of three sacred days (Triduum) that changed the destiny of the human race. Few of us have sufficient time to make use of all the following prayer suggestions during these holy days, but it would be a tragedy to let this season of grace go by without taking […]

Catholics seem preoccupied with the sufferings of Christ — the Crucifix, the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Stations of the Cross.  As if all this were not enough, Catholics must stand at attention one Sunday each year as they listen to the entire Passion narrative read aloud.
Careful, repeated meditation on the Passion of Christ is important because […]

It really looked like the end of the road for her. Caught in the act of a capital crime, her fate lay in the hands of an angry mob. Desiring to kill two birds with one stone, the rabble decided to use her as a political pawn, and so dragged her to Jesus.
But they badly miscalculated.  He […]

Some think Lent is a time for fasting.  I see it as a time of feasting.
I come to this conclusion based on the story of the fig tree in Luke 13.  Three years without bearing fruit.  What could be the problem?  The owner figures that it is simply a dud and wants to cut it […]

In the English language, the special season before Easter is called "Lent."  The word comes from the "lengthening" of daylight hours as we progress from the darkness of winter to the new light of spring.  But other languages, such as Spanish, have a name for this season that is derived from the word for forty.  […]

"Love your enemies and turn the other cheek."  "Judge not, lest you be judged" (Lk 6: 27-38).  It sounds admirable to some, but preposterous to others.  The 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche thought such doctrine would breed a society of weaklings.  Karl Marx thought these words would help keep the oppressed under the thumbs of […]

"Beatitude" means perfect blessedness or happiness.  But when you read "The Beatitudes," you seemingly find anything but.  It is the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the persecuted that are blessed.  In Luke's gospel (Lk 6:20-26), Jesus even adds woes for those who are rich, full, mirthful and popular.
I once heard a preacher say that […]

Peter. Paul. Isaiah. Frodo Baggins. They have more in common than meets the eye.
Of course there are differences, too.  Peter is a small-business man, trying to eke a living for his family out of a lake in Hicksville.  No one expected much from Galilee.  Its inhabitants had a thick country accent that gave them away every time, like when Peter […]

"In polite conversation, never bring up politics or religion."  That's the advice I was given as a child.  And it's good advice, too, if your main goal is to make sure everybody likes you.  Politics and religion are risky because they involve deeply held convictions, and if you happen to challenge these convictions, you get […]

There is a myth that we must lay to rest, once and for all — Protestants are all about the Bible, while Catholics are all about the Sacraments.  While I can't speak for my Protestant brethren, I can say this with certainty: the Catholic Church has never tolerated any such either/or.  Both Scripture and Sacraments […]

Last Sunday the Church celebrated the Epiphany, and on Monday, the Lord's baptism. This Sunday we remembered the Wedding Feast at Cana. What's the connection between the Jordan's water, Cana's wine, and the Magi's gifts?
Actually, the link is not hard to see. The Magi's homage showed the divinity of this child-king who was to die for His […]

The mother of the Messiah has been called many things in the last 2000 years — the Virgin Mary, Our Lady, the Blessed Mother.  But call her "the Mother of God" and you'll see some Christians squirm.
This is nothing new.  One day in the early fifth century, a priest preached a stirring sermon in the […]

The Beatitudes rank high on the list of all-time favorite Bible passages.  But what is beatitude, anyway?   In the Bible, a "blessed" person is someone who has received gifts of the greatest value, gifts that lead to true fulfillment and lasting happiness.
If I were to ask you to name the first Beatitude, you'd probably say […]

On the third Sunday of Advent, the penitential purple of the season changes to pink and we celebrate "Gaudete" or "Rejoice!" Sunday.  "Shout for joy, daughter of Sion" says Zephaniah.  "Draw water joyfully from the font of salvation," says Isaiah.  "Rejoice in the Lord always," says St. Paul.  "Do penance for the judge is coming," […]