Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” John 1: 45 The opening of today’s gospel reading for the Feast of St. Bartholomew begins with a description of the encounter between Philip and Nathanael, whom…[read more]
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and you have neglected the weightier matters of the Law—judgment and mercy and faith. These you should have done without neglecting those. Blind guides, you strain out the gnat and swallow the camel. Matthew 23: 23-4 The distinguished 20th century…[read more]
Knowing this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfill all your desires for goodness and complete all that you have been doing through faith; because in this way the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you and you in him,…[read more]
Elijah stepped out in front of all the people. “How long” he said “do you mean to hobble first on one leg than on the other? If Yahweh is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21 Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have…[read more]
She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah. 1 Kings 17:15-6 Just so your light must shine before…[read more]
Blessed are the mourners, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5: 4 In a commentary on the character of Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, he psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz writes: Ultimately Scrooge changes because the ghosts unpick his delusion that you can live a life without loss. They undo his delusion by haunting…[read more]
I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly. Ezechiel 34: 15-6 Indeed…[read more]
“Which commandment is first of all?” Jesus answered: “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You…[read more]
Jesus said to them: “Is not this why you are wrong—because you do not know the Scriptures of the power of God?” Mark 12:24 Sigmund Freud’s analytic critique of monotheistic religion is entitled: The Future of An Illusion. The basis of his critique is that the teachings of religion and the very notion of God…[read more]
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in…[read more]
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