Reflections

You’ve got to be taughtTo hate and fear.You’ve got to be taughtFrom year to year.It’s got to be drummedIn your dear little ear.You’ve got to be carefully taught. You’ve got to be taughtTo be afraidOf people whose eyesAre oddly made,And people whose skinIs a different shade.You’ve got to be carefully taught. You’ve got to be […]

In the last 9 days, we have celebrated feast days for three founders of the great Orders of Priests in the Catholic Church:  St. Ignatius Loyola (Jesuits, July 31st); St. Alphonsus Liguori (Redemptorists, August 1st); and St. John Vianney (August 4th.   OK, he did not found a specific order, but he is the patron

Today’s readings bring into sharp focus the challenges that God’s chosen people face in trying to carry out the mission entrusted to them by God. Today we see a prophet’s depression in Elijah, a disciple’s grief in Paul and an apostle’s fear in Peter. In the first reading (1 Kings 19:9, 11-13), we see a

Today’s readings seem to be focused on a question that bothers all of us at one time or another:  Why does God allow evil to happen?  Our first reading, from the Prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:12-2:4) consists of a dialogue between God and the prophet and may be the only place in the Bible where someone

Today we have a single reading (Nahum 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7) from the very short Book of Nahum (just three chapters). Nahum is one of the so-called ‘minor’ prophets, as opposed to ‘major’ prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Nahum made his prophecy just before the fall of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC. His

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Accounts of the event are described in each of the three synoptic gospels (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; and Luke 9:28-36); and alluded to in John’s gospel (John 1:14) and in Peter’s second letter (2 Peter 1:16-18). The Transfiguration takes place at a point in

Today as we listen to the words of the scriptures, we are reminded of the need for us to trust in the Lord, in His promises and in His providence. We must listen to God and hold onto Him, and not to be easily swayed by the words of false prophets and all those who

We read today (Jeremiah 28:1-17) of the dispute with the false prophet, Hananiah. It is nice, of course, to hear encouraging words, but not if they are false and misleading, and that is what we see in today’s reading. Internal evidence seems to indicate that chapters 27-28 were a distinct unit from the rest of

An old man goes to a local diner every day for lunch. He always orders the soup du jour. One day the old man asks for a little more bread. The next day the manager tells the waitress to give him four slices of bread instead of just two. But that day the old man

Sometimes it is hard to keep the people, places and events in the Scriptures straight.  Was it the prophet Elijah that did such-and-such or was it his student, the prophet Elisha?  Was it Elijah that raised from the dead the son of Zarephath’s widow?  Was it Elisha who raised from the dead the Shunammite Woman’s