The parables suffer from our familiarity with them. That familiarity, however, may be more superficial than intimate. It is important to remember that the priest and the Levite mentioned in today’s Gospel were bound to fulfill their cultic obligations for the good of the people, obligations they couldn’t fulfill should they be defiled by a […]

The German word “Schadenfreude,” is one we have come to use in those situations where the misfortune of another brings us pleasure—albeit one we will not openly admit to. Similarly, we have probably all had the experience of hoping for the downfall and punishment of some villain portrayed in a film or novel. In daily […]

In the long history of Christianity heresies have sometimes been associated with Christians unwilling to live with mystery and thus seeking (with puny human intelligence) to comprehend and describe the infinite. And although this tendency has been more pronounced in the great mysteries of the Trinity and the person of Christ, it has not been […]

In dogmatic theology we refer to the Trinity as a “procession,” that is to say, something or someone that “proceeds”. In the Creed we speak of the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father, and this, in fact, refers to John’s Gospel, at the end of Chapter Fifteen: the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the […]

Spiritually, there has long been a negative association with the depths of the earth as the realm of the dead and of hell. Conversely, the sky and the heights are associated with the realm of the living and the glories of heaven. It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that Christ’s return to the Father in his […]

Our readings certainly cover a wide range of topics: our Lord’s leave-taking during the Last Supper; the controversy in the early church whether people had first to become Jews to be Christians; the New Jerusalem at the consummation of time and history. The Gospel mentions the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send […]

This Easter Season is a celebration of the fact that although the Ancient Serpent that is Satan) initially succeeded in derailing God’s great plan and desire for humanity, God neither abandoned us to our fate nor lost his desire to share his divine life with us. Instead, in Christ, God actively came in search of […]

The other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first…he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. I’ve been asking myself, why did this “other disciple,” “the disciple whom Jesus loved” show deference to Peter allowing him to enter the tomb first? The last time they […]

Although it is simpler and easier to think and understand in distinct and separate categories in certain areas of life, when it comes to the life of the spirit this becomes inadequate and problematic. Instead, the spiritual life unfolds in a landscape of grays rather than the black and white of clarity and certainty. And […]

The Eucharist occupies a central place in our life as Christians and as monks. This evening’s readings bring out something of the complexity of this great sacrament which is a sublime mystery whose depths we can never fully comprehend or even experience. Not surprisingly, then, the Eucharist has been the subject of theological and spiritual […]