A colleague of mine regularly gives students in her Christian Belief Ancient and Modern course a question on the role of the Holy Spirit The lead in to the question is a headline from The Onion America rsquo s Finest News Source February 26 2003 ldquo God Quietly Phasing Holy Ghost Out Of Tri

It is necessary as Fr Schineller S J points out in his recent post that the Ascension be seen as God rsquo s nbsp ldquo act of faith in us rdquo not a time to be gazing skyward or backward St Augustine gets to the ground of this reality in The City of God Book XVIII Chapter 53 when he s

The First Reading for the fifth Sunday of Easter is Acts 9 26-31 Luke is often thought to give an ideal or idealistic picture of the earliest Church and perhaps this is so though elements of friction disputation and consternation amongst the earliest Christians can be found throughout the Acts

Why not use this blog entry Not that you would use it perhaps that s presumptuous of me even to assume it but no one wants to hear about word studies from the pulpit On the other hand what will people say when they hear Acts 4 8-12 proclaimed this Sunday According to the NAB Peter asks if he

I wish I could be present at the celebration of America Magazine rsquo s 100th Anniversary tomorrow in New York nbsp It was about two years ago that I was invited to participate in the blog ldquo The Good Word rdquo and I have enjoyed the opportunity that I was given by Tim Reidy and the magazi

One of the readings for Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord is the account of Cleopas and the unnamed disciple on the road to Emmaus Luke 24 13-35 I love this reading for it is a perfect example of Jesus rsquo loving presence even when we are not aware that he is near that he is with

Good Friday is betrayal by a dear friend a part of an inner circle preparation in a long dark night for a coming arrest trial public and painful humiliation repudiation and death on a cross Why is it called Good Friday It doesn rsquo t seem very good At some point most Christians have ha

The Second Reading for Holy Thursday is 1 Corinthians 11 23-26 In the tradition which Paul received of Jesus rsquo words of institution he relays Jesus rsquo command to do this in remembrance of me when partaking in both the bread and the cup This is my body that is for you Do this in rememb

I wrote something different for Palm Sunday than what I am posting here but felt it was too personal to post not with respect to me but with respect to neighbors friends my family and my parish I did not identify anyone by name with the exception of a kind and good neighbor identifying him a

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his reverence Son though he was he learned obedience from what he suffered and when he was made perfect he bec