The Year of St Paul began on June 28 2008 and it seems right to make note of it before it recedes in the revelries of summer beginning with Fourth of July celebrations tomorrow Prior to St Paul s conversion he persecuted the Church and was trying to destroy it Gal 1 13 Paul recognized

To spend any time with Jesus teachings is to be amazed by the depth of the simplicity I have sometimes asked students in class to write parables in order to see how difficult it is to tell a simple story that has power meaning force and a moral that does not seem sappy contrived or sentiment

I am so happy that Fathers Leonard and Kilgallen have blogged recently on Ordinary time and especially its connection in the Northern hemisphere to the coming of Spring and Summer and the blossoming of plant life of all sorts I have been looking for a scriptural and liturgical entr e into the worl

The Apostle Paul packs a mighty punch in his letters even when delivered in small doses this Sunday s Second Reading Romans 3 21-25 28 is a short passage that delivers great power It can be difficult today to understand the challenge of the theological issues buffeting the early Church espe

Two things are immediately brought to mind by the Gospel reading for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity John 3 16-18 One is the ubiquity of John 3 16 amongst evangelical Christians a key verse in the Four Spiritual Laws see Law 1 at http www godlovestheworld com I grew up with this ver

The Feast of Matthias Apostle falls on May 14 How are you celebrating this year Matthias according to Luke in Acts of the Apostles 1 15-26 was chosen to fill the place abandoned by Judas And that is the first and last we hear of Matthias in the New Testament The passage is intriguing at many

Many years ago now when I was a teenager I went to visit a girl I knew in Texas over Thanksgiving She had a brother at Oral Roberts University so we took the bus from Lubbock Texas to Tulsa Oklahoma to visit him and the campus I did not know much about Oral Roberts but I was sweet on the gir

For the fifth Sunday of Easter the first reading continues with the Acts of the Apostles and the passage chosen raises a number of historical questions Luke again makes the point that the number of disciples continued to grow 6 1 which directs us not only to the acceptance of the message in g

Acts 2 42-47 remains an endlessly fascinating reminder of the call of Jesus reiterated by Paul in his letters that Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ part of God 8217 s family see 8216 My Beloved Brothers and Sisters 8217 Christian Siblingship in Paul 8217 by Reidar Aasgard

Paul s Hymn to Christ the most common title given to Philippians 2 6-11 is one of the most popular passages in the Pauline corpus with good reason and one of his most scrutinized passages as well To my mind it encapsulates Jesus Incarnation and Passion more powerfully than any other short