Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is an extreme version of our constant thwarting or quenching the Holy Spirit—something Saint Paul warned against. And whereas blaspheming against the Holy Spirit almost has to be conscious, our quenching or thwarting the Holy Spirit is often unconscious. Our struggle towards that seemingly elusive goal of continuous prayer, is […]

Given his triple denial of Christ and his apparent moral cowardice—as exemplified in today’s first reading—Peter seems an unlikely candidate for sainthood. However, there is one thing that explains why he became Saint Peter: And that is that he was able to accept correction and reproof without making excuses for his behavior or trying to […]

According to Saint Jerome, ignorance of the scriptures, is ignorance of Christ. It is worth noting that he said ignorance of Christ and not ignorance of his teachings or philosophy. We need to remember this in our lectio divina and that the sacred text is the privileged medium through which Christ reveals himself to us. […]

Unlike yesterday’s parable about the need to stay awake, all ten virgins (the wise and the foolish) do actually fall asleep. However, this is not what excludes the foolish ones from the wedding feast, but the fact that by not bringing extra oil they were not there to greet the arrival of the bridegroom. Perhaps […]

I suspect that we have all experienced shame for some of the things we have done in our lives. Shame, like embarrassment, is to be distinguished from guilt or sorrow for sin. Shame is primarily self-focused, whereas guilt typically incorporates those we have sinned against. And although shame and embarrassment seem to be the opposite […]

Visions and other mystical phenomena are sometimes construed as proofs of holiness and being specially favored by God. Today’s feast gives us pause, however, when we consider Peter, James, and John at the time of their privileged witnessing of Christ’s transfiguration. Although much would change after the resurrection and the Pentecost event, these were still […]

In theory, theocracies should be the ideal way of ordering our political and societal lives. In reality, attempts at setting up a country or nation with God as its head fail, and often end up being oppressive, intolerant, and thereby seriously marring the true face of our loving God. Even God himself seems to have […]

Immersing ourselves in the superficial and passing things of this world has a way of coarsening the human spirit and rendering us spiritually deaf and thus incapable of hearing God’s voice. This is epitomized in Amos’ description of those who ask: When will the new moon be over, that we may sell our grain, and […]

The indispensability of grace and the insufficiency of the works of the law is a teaching that is virtually synonymous with Paul; and yet, in writing to Timothy, Paul sounds as though he is boasting and even being presumptuous: I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now […]

Although it is undeniably the greatest honor to be chosen by Christ to be his friend, we might be a little concerned by his additional assertion that in choosing us he has also appointed us to go and bear fruit that will remain. This is especially so when our lives of discipleship seem devoid of […]