At this point in the Gospel of St. John, we reach the point of the beginning of the Book of Glory, the designation that has been given to chapters 13 through 21 of this Gospel. The first 12 chapters of St. John’s Gospel is called the Book of Signs (The Wedding Feast at Cana, The Healing of the Royal Official’s Son, Healing the Paralytic at Bethesda, Giving Sight to the Man Born...
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Mark, the evangelist. Scholars agree that this was the first of the Gospels to be written. They also agree that the second Gospel, that of St. Matthew, follows the outline of St. Mark’s Gospel very closely. However, just as is the case with each of the four Gospels, there is a distinctive character of St. Mark’s Gospel that cannot be...
As Christians, we believe in a triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, belief in the three persons of the Trinity is a doctrine that developed over the first four centuries of the Church. That doctrine was formulated using the words of Jesus in the Gospel of St. John. It took centuries and many councils for the church to come to this belief in three coequal, coeternal,...
My Sheep
For the past three days, we have been hearing a great deal about shepherds, sheep, and sheep gates. Jesus has identified himself as the Good Shepherd, and in doing so, he has also identified us as his sheep. In today’s Gospel text, Jesus tells the people who are questioning him that they are not his sheep because they are not listening to his voice.
However, we have to...
Thomas Carlyle, a British essayist who lived a little more than 200 years ago, built a soundproof chamber in his home. He wanted to shut out all the noises of the street so that he could work in uninterrupted silence. It worked, except for one piercing sound which penetrated through the soundproof walls. His neighbor had a rooster that was given to vigorous expression several times at night...