Today's epistle has me wondering what it would be like if Saint Paul reappeared today in, say, New York or LA. After a chance to watch some TV, surf the Internet, catch up on the major issues in the news, and see how our culture is driven by conspicuous wealth, self-indulgence, and obsession with celebrities, I imagine his message would be the same as it was in the first century A.D. "Do not conform yourselves to this age."

While we are sitting in church today listening to the three very difficult readings, thousands of well-meaning people are flocking to churches that preach a "feel good" version of Christianity.

Mel Gibson's blockbuster movie The Passion of the Christ stirred passions when it was released. Among the various criticisms, some viewers and critics objected to the level of violence and bloodshed, as well as to the single-minded focus on Jesus' final moments of suffering and agony. 

When Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying he was, they replied with a variety of answers: John the Baptist (from those who thought John had come back from the dead); Elijah (who would show up when the kingdom of God was at hand); and Jeremiah (Jesus was acting a lot like a prophet).

At a new job I took on years ago, everyone I met in my first days mentioned how the general manager of the organization was a genius. They spoke of him in awed tones. And so when I met him, I was disappointed.

Paul calls God's judgments inscrutable. Inscrutable, indeed! Most of us see no rhyme or reason to half the events that take place each day. We don't understand how or why certain people have great power or influence and others barely have any.

We've all had the unfortunate experience of losing a key, or perhaps all of our keys. When it's happened to you, how did you feel? Panicked? Powerless? Frustrated? Shut out?

When we learned that our soon-to-be-born daughter had Down syndrome, people sent links to articles meant to reassure my husband and me that all would be well. "Welcome to Holland" was sent to us many times over.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but it is often mothers in need who are driven to be inventive for the sake of their children. Such was the story of Sephali Begum, a 26-year-old single mother from Bangladesh who, in concern for the future of her daughter, took the desperate step of offering to sell one of her own eyes.

My father told me the story about his being an immigrant teenager desperately looking for work on the East Coast with his two brothers. Employment office after employment office had signs that said "Italians need not apply" or "No Italians wanted."