At the end of his magisterial survey of the quest of the historical Jesus in the 19th century Albert Schweitzer recalled Jesus rsquo command to every Christian to follow him and added quot to those who obey him whether they be wise or simple he will reveal himself in the toils in the conflic

This Sunday rsquo s Gospel makes for difficult reading during the quot dog days quot of summer It speaks of things we would rather gently put aside simple lifestyle almsgiving readiness for the return of the Lord faithful use of the time given us and warnings of punishment The beginning of t

Difficulty in reflecting or preaching on the Assumption has always been the absence of any biblical account that the quot ever Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life was assumed body and soul into heaven quot Pius XII Nov 1 1950 The dogma arose from centuries of reflec

The host of a morning news program was interviewing a writer from Forbes magazine who was lamenting the financial losses suffered by various dot-com billionaires He said that one person rsquo s fortune had fallen to a mere 170 million and another had only a billion left I could barely hold back m

Recently the Jesuits were given pastoral care of St Patrick rsquo s Parish in Oakland Calif a small but spirited community composed mainly of African Americans and Hispanics a community that radiates hospitality One of the great saints of the parish is Mother Dumas age 99 matriarch of a larg

Following last week rsquo s narrative of one praised for quietly sitting in the Lord rsquo s presence this Sunday rsquo s readings focus on the need to voice one rsquo s concerns to God in prayer and on how we should pray The specific instructions are prefaced by Luke rsquo s version of the Lord r