Isaiah tells of how God can make even a foreign king "his anointed," the messiah, and work through him. Where have you seen God work in expected ways and through unexpected people?

Some of the people hearing you preach today may feel very strongly about keeping the church out of politics.

The media is full of it. Power, that is, demonstrated in images of clenched fists, men with guns, the natural world exploding, politicians open-mouthed with rhetoric, dollar signs gleaming, and the bragging rights of corporations.

A FAIRLY RECENT trend in biblical scholarship that may have flown under the radar of many Catholics is the social-scientific approach to scripture.

Clockwatching is a miserable pasttime, yet sadly people all over the world are in jobs where they often do just that. It really has nothing to do with the job.

Throughout history, people have invoked the name of God before going into battle with people of another nation who have also invoked the name of God with confidence that God would defend them.

It may seem that Jesus is non-responsive to the questions that come his way. But the truth is that he is responsive to the question beneath the question.

In the gospel today Jesus challenges his hearers to choose to follow God above all else. Let us pray that we may make that choice.

The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. What is the "trap" the Pharisees and Herodians set for Jesus?

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. --1 Corinthians 13:13