The prophet Elijah ldquo went to Zarephath of Sidon to the house of a widow rdquo While Elijah was at the widow rsquo s home her son died Already bereft of a husband which itself often led women into poverty in the ancient world she has now lost her son the remaining source of her emotional

Body and blood bread and wine mdash these are basic components of the human being and the stuff that sustains human life These basic and foundational realities speak to the ordinary humanity of Jesus and one of the deepest mysteries of the church Without the Incarnation we could not speak of Jes

The mystery at the heart of human life is discovered in our relationships whose outlines might be simply explained but that are ineffable at the core How we love and live for one another defies description We struggle for words to make real what we know through experience When one of my sons as

The Jewish feast of Pentecost also known as the Feast of Weeks originally celebrated the spring harvest It was a pilgrimage festival that took place 50 days after the end of Passover By the time of Jesus Pentecost was also celebrated as a joyous remembrance of the giving of the law at Sinai See

Family life in antiquity was a life of insecurity though families in many parts of the world still know this insecurity well even today The warm pictures we might concoct of ancient families mdash though certainly the ancients loved their children and spouses loved each other just as families do

The Magi knew how to treat the king After seeking him far beyond the bounds of their country these astrologers ldquo when they saw that the star had stopped they were overwhelmed with joy On entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother and they knelt down and paid him homage T