It’s helpful to take a map along when you read the New Testament. Most of the time in the gospel stories, Jesus moves forward. He goes from town to town, teaching and healing and being the “repo man” for souls ensnared by dark spirits.
WHEN THE TRUNK of my sister’s car is loaded with junk she doesn’t even want to think about, she has an efficient method of making the problem vanish: She throws a blanket over the whole mess and walks away.
Job says life is hard. Anybody want to disagree with that? Life is hard when your work is servile and degrading, your nights sleepless, your days unhappy. Oh, and then you die. What a package deal mortality turns out to be!
Where does God speak to you? The easy answer is "church"; you get points for that. The reality, however, is that God speaks to you most often and most clearly wherever you are.
What’s more important: your family or your job? In most cases and in many situations we’d choose the welfare of our families over work—although the two often go hand in hand.
How do we distinguish God’s voice from all other voices clamoring for our attention each day? How do we detect right from wrong, or separate our stubborn self-will from God’s righteous will?
EPIPHANY IS THE traditional day for the blessing of home and family. The ritual doesn’t require clergy and might be encouraged in your community by offering it on the parish website or printing cards with a simplified version of the ritual from Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers.
There’s no intrinsic reason why a new year should be any different from an old one. While we’re conscious of having turned a page on a whole new calendar, New Year's Day is really no more than just another sunrise. Still, we greet each new year with hope for the chance to be born again to new life and possibilities.
For everything there is a season, an ancient Hebrew sage once told us. The season of Christmas, which lasts for eight days, is surely a time for love.
Knowledge is power, according to Sir Francis Bacon. If that’s true, then the unknowable future is the place where we find ourselves most vulnerable.