In Acts, the Lord speaks to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking… for I am with you.” It’s a reminder that God’s presence doesn’t remove challenges, but it does remove the fear that paralyzes us. Paul stays in Corinth for a year and a half—not because it was easy, but because God promised to stand beside him.
Psalm 47 echoes that...
In Acts, Peter stands before the early Church and names a painful truth: the community is wounded by Judas’ betrayal. Instead of ignoring the loss, they pray and ask God to make them whole again. Matthias is chosen—not because he was impressive, but because he had been faithful from the beginning. His life shows how God values steady discipleship more than visibility or acclaim....
Cultural anthropologists know that it is the nature of humanity to seek to know and worship divine beings. The broad range of practices associated with the human quest across time and cultures to comprehend the all-powerful, all wise, and all just reveals that God is indeed larger than our ability to comprehend. Paul addressed the Athenians with this reality. At best we all have only glimpses...
Today is the Memorial of St. Leopold, a Franciscan friar known for his compassion for penitents. We also celebrate the second of the cold or ice saints, St. Pancratius or Pancras, a 14-year-old Roman martyr, beheaded under Diocletian around the year 304. The memorials of St. Leopold Mandić and St. Pancras give today’s readings a beautiful, challenging edge: the Kingdom grows through...
As I believe I have mentioned before, although it appears as a letter in the Christian Scriptures, the First Letter of St. Peter is more probably a homily that was delivered by St. Peter at a baptism of people who were converting to Christianity. Any homily lives or dies on one thing: a successful homily must speak to the real needs, issues, problems or tensions that are present in...