The Kingdom of God Is Among Us

In Wisdom is a spirit / intelligent, holy, unique, / Manifold, subtle, agile, / clear, unstained, certain, / Never harmful, loving the good, keen, / unhampered, beneficent, kindly, / Firm, secure, tranquil, / all-powerful, all-seeing, / And pervading all spirits, / though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle. Wisdom 7: 22-3 Asked by the[read more]

The Narrow Door

In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.  And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according[read more]

Spiritual Leadership

In the United States we are currently (although now it seems most of the time) in a political season. As we attend to those seeking the presidency, we find ourselves once again attempting to appraise who among those seeking office is truly capable of leadership as service to the nation. As we read Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees according to Luke, we can hear a stern warning about the kind of ambition in all of us that would make us poor leaders, and so, by contrast, what makes for a true leader in gospel terms.[read more]

Becoming the Last of All

The disciples have just been arguing among themselves about who is the greatest. As Mark relates the narrative this occurs just after Jesus has told them that he must be handed over to his enemies, suffer, die, and in three days be raised up. We are told that the disciples do not understand what Jesus is saying, and yet they do not dare to question him about it. If we think about it, this is really not so difficult to understand. The absence of questioning suggests that there is a certain willfulness in the disciples’ not understanding. They do not[read more]

Living Originally in an Unoriginal World

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. 1 Peter 1:5-7 But those tenants said to one another, “This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance[read more]