God answers prayers

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to Holiness,  and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the Gift of God is eternal Life in Christ Jesus Our…

Crafty Virtue: Lessons from the Dishonest Steward

One of Jesus’ most challenging parables is the one about the Dishonest Steward in Luke 16. In that story, a wealthy man is about to dismiss one of his stewards for being dishonest. The steward, wanting to ingratiate himself with…

Keeping ‘Son’days Holy

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work.    …

Neither Condemn nor Acquit: Do Not Judge

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” (Matthew 7:1) Jesus’ words about judgment are strong and straightforward, yet they are so often misunderstood. To understand them rightly, note two things. First, he does not say “Judge wisely!”,…

Customer Service as Evangelizers

As evangelizers, we’re all in customer service. Now this is strictly a metaphor, because as Christians we’ve got nothing to sell (in fact, we’re sharing the free gift of God in Jesus Christ) and aim to foster, not consumers, but…

Finding God’s Love Where You Are – A Brief Meditation

Where are you now? I’m not asking for your location according to Google Maps.  I’m asking you where you are on your life’s journey. The one will move you from birth to death, including everything in between. The good. The…

How Comfy is Your Box?

One of the early things that I learned in “Theology School” was the way that God works. Do I have all of the answers, no, but I know what the plan looks like. It reminds me of a 70’s TV…

God’s Partners

We are called by God to take care of his creation. Not just as stewards but as co-creators with God. His work continues with our help, in the fields of our lives. In the spiritual realm, we are called as…

Reflecting on Jesus’ Grandparents

A few days ago we celebrated the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Virgin Mary. Very little can be said about them with certainty. Neither of Mary’s parents are named in the Scriptures. We find these…

Old vs New

Sunday Readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Old vs. New “Liberal” and “conservative.”  The definitions of these terms are seldom stated.  Usually, they are just presumed.  Often people call “conservative” those who like old-fashioned things and “liberal” those…