The social activist and “Servant of God” Dorothy Day wrote, “We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone any
“The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Rejection is one of the hardest experiences in life. For me, it conjures up the scene of a childhood playground, the captains of two teams reducing the pool of eligible members one by one to the inevitable “last”pick. For those few at the end of the selection, the scene is loaded with feelings of
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.
In these troubled times I am constantly tuning out some of the negative voices and influences and trying to be more attentive to voices of hope. Today’s readings are perfect for fostering hope. First there’s Haggai (chapter 2); This is one of the shortest books of the Bible and one I most often forget even exists. But his words “I am with you; fear
I wait for, I pray for inspiration by the Holy Spirit. Free me from the distractions and fears that cripple me. Empower, embolden and enlighten me with your gifts. The Disciples gathered, praying and waiting for the One Christ promised would come after Him, that God had promised for generations. Suddenly, miraculously, the Spirit comes…and there’s an audience. To many, the explanation is that
The word ‘competent’ in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians startled me. I looked at other translations, thinking that ‘competent’ might be a modern usage. My collection of modern Bibles all use ‘competent’ but the King James Version is “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves
I found myself in 2017 questioning how God could allow all the evil in the world that we were experiencing; just as the prophet Habakkuk did in this passage: Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea? This year we heard about terrible events taking place in the world and in New York:
Guilt, sin, absolution — these concepts have much less currency today than they once did. Though a major emphasis of Christianity for centuries, guilt and sin lost much of their sting in the last century, making absolution seem less necessary. And yet, I think most of us still know that sin is endemic to our lives. We feel the guilt of having passed by
A series of “r” words surfaced in my mind in looking over these passages — rest, repair, replenish, reflecting. Individually and/or collectively these passages point to a direction we are to be mindful of and embrace in our lives. In the Hebrews passage we are extended an invitation to enter rest. Isaiah bids us to return to rest. The Psalm encourages us to reflect
In these days and nights of winter, there is much darkness. As I write on a frigid day, I know how quickly darkness will fall in the afternoon. I look out my window into the night sky and see a huge moon and a star. The light that emanates from the moon and the star glistens on rooftops and sidewalks. It is hopeful. It