We hear and say the word thanks fairly often though perhaps not often enough and usually without much thought Thanksgiving Day is our most popular national holiday yet few of us recognize and acknowledge the religious dimension of that day Last Sunday rsquo s master-servant parable reminded us t

Perhaps the most obvious component of Christian spirituality is faith In general the virtue of faith refers to considering something to be true and therefore worthy of trust In the Christian tradition faith is a theological virtue because it has its origin and object in God We believe and trust

Last Sunday rsquo s Gospel reading from Luke 16 established a link between money and Christian spirituality Followers of Jesus must apply their intelligence and energy to things of the spirit just as they do to financial matters use wealth wisely be good stewards of their possessions and not make

The words ldquo money rdquo and ldquo spirituality rdquo are seldom found in the same sentence Yet Luke and other biblical writers give a good deal of attention to money and possessions In Luke rsquo s own community there seems to have been some tension between rich and poor and he took a spe

A ldquo lost soul rdquo is someone who seems adrift morally spiritually intellectually and emotionally Such a person may be lost to drugs alcohol ambition greed gambling sexual promiscuity or the ldquo pragmatic rdquo mentality that shows no respect for human life and measures everything

Banquet scenes are frequent in the Bible Jesus used meals shared with all kinds of persons as occasions to impart his wise teachings and as symbols for life in the coming kingdom of God Banquets are especially prominent in Luke rsquo s Gospel and most of Luke 14 presents Jesus rsquo teachings in