Author name: Essjay Peatoo

The prophet Micah, featured in the last few days’ Old Testament readings, is one of the twelve minor prophets whose books appear in the Old Testament.  Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea.   He prophesied during the momentous years surrounding the tragic fall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire (722 BC), an event […]

Today we have a continuation of last Sunday’s Gospel reading on the parables describing the Kingdom. Matthew, in these parables, speaks consistently of the “kingdom of heaven” and it could be, for some people, a misleading phrase because it seems to refer to the afterlife, a future existence. On many occasions, I have stated that

The prophet Micah, featured in today’s first reading (Micah 2:1‑5), is one of the twelve minor prophets whose books appear in the Old Testament.  Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea.   He prophesied during the momentous years surrounding the tragic fall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire (722 BC), an event he also

The individual who is not interested in the well-being of his fellow man has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring.  It is when we are not interested in others that can be the source of our own failure

July 16 Carmelmeans “vineyard,” “orchard,” or “garden” and reflects the fertile beauty of Mount Carmel’s picturesque slopes. The mountainous ridge starts on the Mediterranean coast in the northwest part of Israel, at the south shore of the Bay of Acre. From there, the range runs southeast down to the plain of Dothan. Running along the

Like most of Isaiah, the excerpt used for today (Isaiah 10:5‑7, 13‑16) makes more sense (at least to me) when I read the whole chapter. It is the time of the Assyrian invasion of the southern kingdom of Judah. The “he” the Lord refers to is the Assyrian king. The Lord has sent/allowed the Assyrians

ST. KATERI TEKAKWITHA1656 to 17 April 1680Feast Day 14 July (US) or 17 April (Canada) Kateri Tekakwitha is called the Lily of the Mohawks. Her name Tekakwitha means “putting things in order.” Indeed, she did put her life in order in a short time. Kateri was a Mohawk Indian born in Ossemenon, what is now

This past Saturday we saw Isaiah’s call to be a prophet of God taken from the sixth chapter of his book. We now go to the beginning of the book (Isaiah 1: 10-17) and from now on we will have selected readings from chapters 1-39, which are really part of Isaiah’s own ministry.  The rest

In the early part of the thirteenth century, Giovanni Franceso Bernardone was headed to a prosperous life as a cloth merchant in the Province of Umbria, Italy.   He was headed to a life of complete self-gratification. He was a young man who loved every sort of pleasure. But Francis, as he preferred to be

America’s First African American Priest At night the great Mississippi River looked deeper than ever as a woman rowed across it with her three small children. The Civil War had just begun. The woman and her children were slaves. They had fled Missouri and were crossing over into Illinois, and to freedom. That night, the