The great Canadian Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan used to say: “Be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, and be responsible.” To what are you attentive?

Can you name the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World from grade-school history class? In case those days are as fuzzy for you as they are for me, let me help. They are, in order of completion: the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Colossus of Rhodes.

ONE DAY people were standing around talking about the Temple, remarking how beautiful it was, the splendor of its stonework and memorial gifts. Jesus said, “All this you’re admiring so much—the time is coming when every stone in that building will end up in a heap of rubble.”

Two good friends were preparing to leave the area and move a few hours away from me. There was a sadness knowing that our lives were about to change, yet it prompted us to look at our last few weeks in the same city as a different adventure. We celebrated our friendship with drinks, dinner, and conversations. We reminisced about the times we shared together and created a few more lasting memories. Then I helped them pack up their things, loaded the truck, and off they went down the highway. 

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

"Don’t get burned!” could be a theme of this weekend’s readings. Don’t get burned, first of all, in God’s judgment, like evildoers and the proud! Don’t also get burned by false prophets.

If you pay attention to the news, it wouldn’t be too much to think the world is going to you-know-where in a handbasket. Violence, crime, corruption, illness, poverty, ignorance, and plain old self-centeredness seem to rule the day.

I shall not fear anyone on Earth. I shall fear only God. —From Mahatma Gandhi‘s morning offering