Take the snakes away! The reading for the September 14th celebration of the Triumph of the Cross takes us back to the nation of Israel’s escape from 400 years of slavery in Egypt to a forty-year desert journey. Complaining. Again. Not noticing the fact that their clothes and sandals are not wearing out. Or remembering how they […]
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Thomas More- A Man For All Seasons Most of us know the movie, and not the play, a misfortune. The film, although excellent, is incapable of conveying the complexities, nuances, and timeless relevance of the two-act play, A Man For All Seasons. It’s a starkly written drama about the most important battle any of us face:
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Real Poverty-Not knowing what we lack. We hear the phrase a lot: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” St. Mark qualifies St. Luke’s with two words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Until hearing this morning’s EWTN daily mass and homily by Fr. Mark Mary, I’d not given any thought to the qualifier,
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Fear and faith Intertwine. If we think about it quickly, they feel like opposites. For if we’ve faith, then fear should be eclipsed. And yet fear and faith intertwine, they seem to coexist. Even before His birth, Jesus galvanized anxiety- in His virginal mother and just and righteous adoptive father. The decision of God the
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How is your heart doing? The English translation to the Persian greeting, “Hello, how are you?” is “How is your heart doing at this very moment? At this very breath?” Head of Islamic Studies Omad Safi suggests that is what we mean when we say “How are you?” We mean to ask, “How is your
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It’s been two weeks and yet I am still thinking about Sunday evening’s Golden Globes and the New/Old War. Because I wanted to see the winner of the Best Picture, I turned it on in time to watch Ellen DeGeneres speak about receiving the Carol Burnett award. The award was created last year by the
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Leave, Herod wants to kill you. Some of the Pharisees approached Jesus to tell him to leave Jerusalem … “Leave, Herod wants to kill you.” “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose. Yet I must continue
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Not a hair on your head was originally written in late 2013. I am reposting it for two reasons: It feels eerily even more relevant in October, 2019 as a beleaguered Israel prepares for war without global support of any kind; the United Nation’s attention on Israel is confined to absurdities and the US continues
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Surprised by Grace Now and then, I am surprised by grace; that phrase is used a lot by Christian writers weakly attempting to convey what Paul describes as living and active and sharper than a two edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit. Because it’s always much more than surprise…more
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Environmental Activist and Oxymoron There was a time, many years ago, when I was more of a radical environmental activist than most people I knew. And would not have conceived of a phrase like environmental activist and oxymoron in a single phrase. No more. The first part of the phrase carries the heft of religion.
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