Many—if not most—of those who sought out Jesus were in search of a physical cure or some other self-serving need or request. In contrast, the tax collectors and so-called “sinners” were all drawing near to listen to Jesus—to quote today’s gospel. In other words, they were seeking the person of Jesus and not merely some […]

A casual reading of the gospels would suggest that all the Pharisees were opposed to Jesus and were intent upon killing him. And yet we know that this is not true: Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was a secret disciple of Jesus, and Gamaliel, another Pharisee, defended Jesus’ apostles before the Sanhedrin. So too, we have just […]

As Saint Paul reminds the Galatians, it is through faith that we receive the Spirt, while in relation to today’s gospel, faith assures us that if we ask we will receive, and if we knock the door will be opened. In a somewhat paradoxical fashion, faith is also what we exercise in asking for a […]

It is well to remember that monastic asceticism is less about denying oneself pleasure and embracing hardship, and more about reestablishing that original God-intended harmony between the body and the soul, and the spirit and the flesh. Our reading from Proverbs expresses this goal in terms of seeking neither poverty nor riches, but only the […]

There are times in our lives when, with the best of intentions, we foolishly reassure a suffering friend that we understand his/her pain and misery even though we have had no similar experience. And when the cause of a friend’s suffering is extremely traumatic or bears no similarity to anything we have undergone, we have […]

Jesus’ quoting of the “Golden Rule” according to which we are to do to others as we would have them do to us, is usually the opposite of what we are inclined to do—that is, treat others as they treat us. Thus, a strike on the cheek, is reciprocated in kind, and a curse is […]

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 […]