“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
If this statement was made by anyone other than Jesus, I’m sure that we would shake our heads and say: “Easy for You to say!” However, I was surprised to learn that “Do not be afraid!” or “Fear Not” actually appears 365 times in the Bible. That’s enough for one each day of the year. When I found...
Today we celebrate one of the Feasts of the Lord that during this calendar year falls on a Sunday. So, we set aside the Sundays of Ordinary Time and celebrate the light that has come into the world through the birth of Jesus. We bless the candles that will be used throughout our liturgies this year in memory of that light.
The prophet Malachi gives us a background for this particular Feast...
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. These words from our first reading provide a framework for understanding the various men and women who are mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews. If someone were to ask me what my favorite chapter of Scripture was, I would immediately tell them that I really love this chapter of the Letter...
The Jews were expelled from Rome several times in the history of that city. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews references one of those episodes in the very first line of today’s first reading. “Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering.” Sometime in the fourth decade or early fifth decade of the first century,...
Though we might not recognize it immediately, there was always some sort of barrier between God and God’s people. The veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the altar of incense is a symbol of the chasm that existed between them. The entire Temple was built to separate people – Gentiles from Jews, women from men, and men from priests. Each group had its own courtyard. The...