Coming to deeper self-knowledge and a truer sense of our sinfulness, typically occurs in stages—from being more superficial to becoming more profound. In today’s gospel, Peter comes to an awareness of his sinful condition—depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. However, this acknowledgment—though sincere—is still only superficial. This becomes clear in that […]

The long, arduous, and, at times, seemingly impossible, quest to attain true inner silence is, nevertheless, the only way our hearts become that rich soil—receptive to God’s Word, and thus bearing the hundredfold. It is only when we have acquired this inner silence—and quelled the inner chatter of our restless minds and stilled the insidious […]

In order to be a just judge one needs more than knowledge of the law and whether or not someone has transgressed the law. Looking both at a transgressor’s motivations as well as any mitigating factors that help understand the transgressor’s behavior are equally crucial to dispensing justice. God shows himself just such a just […]

There is fundamentally only one category of sin that inevitably separates us from God, and places us outside the ambit of God’s grace; and that sin is pride. All other sins have at least the potential for becoming moments of grace, and a repentant turning back to the God we have offended. In addition, every […]