The word “faith” appears many times in the Scriptures and is the driving force of the Gospel of St. John. In order to believe in anything, one needs faith. In the very first chapter of his Gospel, St. John wrote: “A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” In the twentieth chapter of his...
The Scripture readings for today features two prophets, Jeremiah and John the Baptist. Both are threatened with death because of the messages that they preach. While Jeremiah was saved in the incident that is reported today, he did eventually die the death of a martyr after Assyria had conquered both the northern and southern kingdoms. The manner of his death is too horrible to mention so I...
The feast, or in our case the solemnity of our Lady of the Angels, is intimately connected to the notion of pardon and mercy. St. Francis himself struggled with the idea of mercy and pardon. Until two years before his death, he was constantly nagged by thoughts of his former sinful way of life, wondering whether God had actually forgiven him. If my experience as a confessor is in any way...
Before a potter can form a piece of sculpture of clay, the clay itself must be prepared for the hands of the potter. Clay must be made malleable before it can be shaped; it must be kneaded and softened with water before it is ready to be placed on the potter’s wheel.
Once the clay is ready and the potter can begin to shape the object; it takes a great amount of care and attention to...
As rare as buried treasure might be today, it was a different story in the time of Jesus. There were no banks or safety deposit boxes in which to safeguard valuables. It was not uncommon, therefore, for a man to bury his valuables whenever his home or he may have felt threatened. The law insisted that buried treasure belonged to the person who owned the plot of ground in which it was buried....