Today’s Gospel seems to challenge fairness, preferring concern for the “last.”

Jesus' parable states that all church order is subject to the law of mercy and forgiveness.

“Denying one’s self” is more profound than daily acts of “mortification.” It means displacing one’s self from the center of our consciousness while looking to the true self embodied by Jesus’ teaching.

Church life in the last six months has been dominated by shameful actions of some of its priests and hierarchy and is now preoccupied although belatedly with protecting its most vulnerable members The fourth of the great discourses of Jesus in Matthew Ch 18 called the Sermon on the Church a

Though Matthew stresses that the primary mission of Jesus was to the ldquo house of Israel rdquo in today rsquo s Gospel a non-Jewish woman draws him to a more universalistic vision Narrated by both Mark 7 24-30 and Matthew this story of courageous faith and boundary-crossing challenges the c

If there is one Scripture passage that seems to define Catholicism it is the Petrine promise of Mt 16 16-20 Matthew supplements Peter rsquo s confession that Jesus is the Christ Mk 8 29 by the more solemn affirmation ldquo You are the Christ the Son of the living God rdquo and adds extraor