What is it about 40 days that so enamors the writers of Scripture? Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness. In the days of the Flood, Noah and his...
7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Feb. 13, 2012)
In Jesus' time, the people felt there was a very close linkage between a person's illness and his/her sin, hence the decision of Jesus to heal the...
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Feb. 12, 2012)
In Sunday's Gospel, a leper comes directly up to Jesus and says: "If you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus' response is stunning in its...
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Feb. 5, 2012)
As I sit in this chair working on this reflection, I look out the window and see snow falling. Sometimes it's light, at other times the visibility...
2nd Sunday of Advent (Dec. 4, 2011)
The early Church had a real problem with two people: John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene. I can't get into Mary Magdalene, but if you want a really...
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Oct. 2, 2011)
Sunday's parable of the vineyard tenants is the third vineyard parable on a row. Two Sundays ago we heard the parable of the laborers in the...
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sept. 4, 2011)
Sunday's Gospel about correcting one's brother or sister is a tough one. We live in a time when "Mind your own business" seems to be the operating...
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Aug. 7, 2011)
Pondering Sunday's readings, I kept coming back to the first phrase of the refrain from the Responsorial Psalm: "Lord. let us see your kindness...."...
Translating the Book of Jubilees
Among the 900 or so texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the Book of Jubilees, a second- century retelling of Genesis and the first part of Exodus....