Although Christ calls us out of sin, he initially meets us where we are—within our sinful state and not outside it. But as we hear in today’s gospel, this brought him into conflict with the Scribes and the Pharisees who condemned his eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. Misguided humility and a fundamental […]

Like the well-intentioned resolutions we make at the beginning of each year, Lenten resolutions can sometimes be abandoned long before Easter—this is especially true of the more interior ones, like those Saint Bernard labels the fasting of the eyes, ears, and tongue. Still, establishing some special Lenten practice (or resolution) is not without spiritual benefit, […]

Since Saint John assures us that perfect love casts out fear, it is instructive that one of the first consequences of Eve and Adam’s disobedience is fear and the desire to hide from God. One presumes that prior to their disobedience, Eve and Adam did not fear God and lived in peaceful and trusting harmony […]

As Saint Paul reminded the Corinthians, if I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. We honor Saint Paul Miki and his companion martyrs not because they suffered so much in bearing witness to Christ, but that […]

Psychological and spiritual growth are integral to the manifestation of otherwise hidden inner potential and our becoming all that God created us to be. Unfortunately, our still unredeemed condition and our failure to become the unique persons God created us to be is like the lighted lamp placed under a bushel basket—referred to in today’s […]

On this annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, the quote from Jeremiah (in our first reading) is especially relevant. For although legal protection of the unborn is crucial, it is only a stage in progress towards a true solution. Until, in the words of Jeremiah, God’s immutable law against the […]

Today’s gospel reports, rather matter-of-factly, that John the Baptist, upon hearing about his disciples leaving him to join Jesus, responds with the now famous statement: He must increase but I must decrease. Unfortunately, we don’t know if this was as effortless as it sounds, or whether it came at the conclusion of an inner struggle. […]

In an age when trees, woods, and forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate, the image of God planting cedars, acacias, myrtles, cypresses, and pines in the desert wasteland, is a rather timely and relevant one. God’s intervention is a reminder that the continuing damage being done to our environment is largely the result […]

The church has sometimes been criticized for adopting a “fortress mentality” in relation to the world and is, thereby, thought to undermine its positive influence and role in the world. Monastic enclosure sometimes receives a similar critique by those who believe that monks and nuns should be out evangelizing rather than taking refuge behind monastery […]

REVELATION 2:1-7: Our reading from Revelation speaks of the dead being judged according their deeds. This raises the question: Which deeds? Our good deeds, or our bad ones? Does our eternal destiny depend on which we the most of—good or evil? If so, then are we not back to earning our way into heaven? An […]