The other morning at vigils we heard of Saint Dominic’s longing to be scourged, cut into little pieces, and thus die for faith in Christ. I wonder if any one of us shares a similar longing—despite the great honor and privilege of dying for Christ. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we are incapable of […]

As we know, Saint Benedict disapproves rather strongly of what he terms “murmuring” in the monastery. Similarly, the grumbling of the Israelites in the desert, is not favorably received by the Lord. Grumbling or murmuring against God ceases for one of three reasons: The first and most obvious is when God is believed to have […]

According to Saint Bernard, curiosity is the first step of pride. If this is true, what are we to make of Moses’ curiosity about the burning bush that was not consumed? After all, he was known as the meekest man on the face of the earth—a quality that is the very opposite of pride. One […]

Our Lord’s admonition that we not judge one another so as not be judged ourselves, is one we find difficult to heed. Almost at every moment we are making judgments and assessments—some necessary, others not. Judging the breaking distance required while approaching a red traffic light is necessary, but judging the motives of a brother […]

Saint Paul’s claim that he would rather boast of his weaknesses than his strengths rings a little hollow coming, as it does, after a very impressive cataloging of the sufferings and persecutions that he so courageously endured. But two phrases following this long catalog of heroic endurance reflect the ultimate humility of this great apostle. […]

Our motivations for doing things are not always as clear as we might think, or as pure and unselfish as they need to be. Ideally, we should, like Paul, be impelled by love in all that we do—echoing Saint Augustine’s adage, love and do what you will. Unfortunately, pure love and unselfish love cannot be […]

Like some low-grade, persistent, but untreated infection in the body that, though not life-threatening, constantly undermines a person’s health, so habitual patterns of sin whose deeper roots are never uncovered may not extinguish the light of grace, but they do constantly rob us of inner peace and preclude that purity of heart without which we […]

It is interesting and significant that the disciples receive the privilege of being called Jesus’ friends shortly before his arrest and execution—when all but one would abandon him to his fate. And whereas it might suggest that Jesus had prematurely designated these still weak and untrustworthy men his intimate friends, it might also say something […]

Spiritual ideals can be wonderfully inspiring and spur us on to greater holiness. However, ideals can also be discouraging and paralyzing when we find ourselves far from them and unable to draw closer to them. And whereas one doesn’t want to simply debunk ideals out of frustration at not being able to reach them, it […]

Christ’s harsh words in this morning’s gospel are the kind we have come to associate with his dealings with the Scribes and Pharisees, except that today’s excerpt begins with the phrase: Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him—that is, his disciples. This serves as a reminder that although Christ embraces the sinner with […]