The Struggle With Amalek
21 Oct 2007
Contributed by Lukas
An awful lot of people probably find our first reading for this week offensive. We hear that Israel ...
The Lessons of Naaman
14 Oct 2007
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Naaman the Syrian is not terribly well-known, but it contains some marvelous spiritual ...
The Lament of Habakkuk
07 Oct 2007
Contributed by Lukas
The prophet Habbakuk expresses what most of us feel at some point in our lives: how can God be so in...
The Poor At Our Gate
30 Sep 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
Loss Of A Sabbath Consciousness
23 Sep 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
The Reckless Abandon of God’s Love
16 Sep 2007
Contributed by Lukas
God does not love as we do, in a calculating manner. He makes his sun to shine on the good and the b...
The Path of Dispossession
09 Sep 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus tells us that we must get rid of all of our possessions, including the people that we have tur...
The Addiction of Honor
02 Sep 2007
Contributed by Lukas
The lust for honor interrupts the great banquet that God wants us to enjoy. This is why Jesus interr...
Jacob Neusner, Benedict XVI, and the Vocation of Israel
26 Aug 2007
Contributed by Lukas
In his new book, Pope Benedict engages in a fascinating dialogue with the American rabbi Jacob Neusn...
Trusting the Darkness
12 Aug 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Authentic faith has nothing to do with credulity or intellectual naivte. It has everything to do wit...
The Lessons of Qoheleth
05 Aug 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Both our first reading and Gospel function as a slap in the face, cold water, a wake-up call. They s...
The Lord’s Prayer
29 Jul 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for this week is of the utmost importance, for we hear the Son of God himself teaching us...
Paul's Suffering
22 Jul 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Paul says in our second reading that he "makes up in his own sufferings what is lacking in the suffe...
The Natural Law
15 Jul 2007
Contributed by Lukas
What the church calls "the natural law" is, as Moses suggests in our first reading, close to us, in ...
Gospel Freedom
01 Jul 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Our readings for this weekend are completely counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. We put a huge p...
Great Canticle of Zechariah
24 Jun 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
A New Creation
08 Apr 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Easter is the dawn of a new creation. St. John tells us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early o...
The Burning Bush
11 Mar 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Moses sees a bush that burns but is not consumed. This is a lovely symbolic expression of the way Go...
The Father in Faith
04 Mar 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Abraham was chosen by God as the founder of a people who would be the means by which God would save ...
The Three Temptations
25 Feb 2007
Contributed by Lukas
As we once again commence the penitential season of Lent, it is good to get back to basics. We journ...
Enemy Love
18 Feb 2007
Contributed by Lukas
The most troubling and challenging of Jesus' teaching is the command to love our enemies. In this ho...
Where Do You Put Your Faith
11 Feb 2007
Contributed by Lukas
The readings for this weekend pose a blunt question: whom, finally, do you trust? "Trust" is meant h...
What is Love?
28 Jan 2007
Contributed by Lukas
In the thirteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul sings a hymn to love. He ...
The Paradox of Walls
21 Jan 2007
Contributed by Lukas
Nehemiah, the 5th century governor of Judea, has an important spiritual lesson for us today. Nehemia...
The Task of the Church
14 Jan 2007
Contributed by Lukas
As we enter into ordinary time, we reflect with St. Paul on the ordinary task of the church: the dis...
Biblical Family Values
31 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
There are family values in the Bible, but they might not be the ones you'd expect. The Biblical auth...
The Inexhaustibly Fascinating Figure of Mary
24 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
On the final Sunday of Advent, the Church invites us to consider the inexhaustibly fascinating figur...
What Should We Do?
17 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for today centers around a question that is bracing in its directness and simplicity. A g...
Return Home
10 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
In our first reading for this week, we hear the prophet Baruch predicting the return of the children...
The Second Coming
03 Dec 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The readings for this first Sunday of Advent focus, not on the historical coming of Jesus at Bethleh...
Pilate and Jesus
26 Nov 2006
Contributed by Lukas
In the confrontation between Pilate and Jesus we see, according to Benedict XVI, a clash of two visi...
Christ the High Priest
12 Nov 2006
Contributed by Lukas
For the past several weeks, we have been reading from the extraordinary letter to the Hebrews, the p...
The Chief of the Nations
29 Oct 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Our first reading for Mass this week contains the most sacred prayer in the Jewish tradition, the "S...
The Voice of Ambition
22 Oct 2006
Contributed by Lukas
James and John want to sit at Jesus' right and left when the Lord comes into his glory. What they do...
I Asked for Wisdom and Prudence
15 Oct 2006
Contributed by Lukas
If an angel of the Lord stood before you and invited you to pray for one thing, what would it be? Th...
The Two Become One Flesh
08 Oct 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Our readings for this week are all about marriage. In the Catholic understanding, a married couple d...
Cut It Off or Cut It Out
01 Oct 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus certainly manages to get our attention in this week's Gospel. Don't literalize his language, b...
The Warfare Within; The Warfare Without
24 Sep 2006
Contributed by Lukas
We have been reading for the past several weeks from the letter of James, which is a treasure-trove ...
The True Davidic Messiah
17 Sep 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
Law and Laws
03 Sep 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Whatever we reverence--baseball, good music, golf, the spiritual life--we are surrounded with laws. ...
Many Went Away
27 Aug 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The Eucharist has been, from the beginning, a source of conflict and division. This is, of course, n...
My Flesh is Real Food; My Blood is Real Drink
20 Aug 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for this weekend is the climax of Jesus' Bread of Life Discourse from the sixth chapter o...
Myth and History
06 Aug 2006
Contributed by Lukas
In our second reading for this weekend, St. Peter tells us that, in sharing the Christian story, he ...
The Cross is Our Peace
23 Jul 2006
Contributed by Lukas
We continue our reading of Paul's extraordinary letter to the Ephesians. We hear that the cross of J...
The Five Act Drama
16 Jul 2006
Contributed by Lukas
For the next several weeks, we are going to be reading from Paul's magnificent letter to the Ephesia...
The Call of the Prophet
09 Jul 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Every baptized person is conformed to Christ: King, Priest, and Prophet. Thus speaking the divine tr...
The Daughter of Jairus and the Book of Leviticus
02 Jul 2006
Contributed by Lukas
In order to understand the power of our Gospel reading for this week, we must attend to the book of ...
The 'De Profundis' Prayer
25 Jun 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Psalm 130 begins with the words, "out of the depths, I have cried to you, O Lord." Throughout the gr...
The Mass and Sacrifice
18 Jun 2006
Contributed by Lukas
For this feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord, I reflect on the Mass as a sacrifice. Sacrificial ...
God Is Love
11 Jun 2006
Contributed by Lukas
On the feast of the Trinity, we reflect on the uniquely Christian definition of God: God is love. Lo...
Pentecost and the Tower of Babel
04 Jun 2006
Contributed by Lukas
All the Jews in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost heard the disciples preaching in their own lang...
The Da Vinci Code (Part 2 of 2)
28 May 2006
Contributed by Lukas
This week I discuss two more themes that emerge in the Da Vinci Code: the Gnostic Gospels and anti-C...
The Da Vinci Code (Part 1 of 2)
21 May 2006
Contributed by Lukas
I don't like departing from the Scriptures in these homilies, but the appearance of the movie based ...
Christ Living His Life in You
14 May 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus Christ is infintely more than a moral ideal, a saint whom we admire from afar. In accord with ...
The Risen Lord
30 Apr 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Luke paints a fascinating portrait of the risen Jesus in our Gospel for today. He stands in the mids...
The Disquieting Grave of Jesus
16 Apr 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Graves are usually places of peace, repose, and meditation. We sit by a gravesite or we stroll throu...
The Master Has Need of You
09 Apr 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The donkey upon which Jesus rides into Jerusalem is a wonderful image for discipleship. He is a simp...
God's Cleansing Anger
26 Mar 2006
Contributed by Lukas
God sometimes expresses his anger at his people Israel. This is not an emotional snit into which God...
Speaking to Moses and Elijah
12 Mar 2006
Contributed by Lukas
For a Jew of Jesus' time, Moses and Elijah would symbolize the Law and the Prophets, the two major d...
Angels and Wild Beasts
05 Mar 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Our readings for the first Sunday of Lent highlight the cosmic and universal nature of God's redempt...
New Wine and New Wineskins
26 Feb 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The new wine that Jesus speaks of is the Gospel itself, the Good News that God has joined our human ...
Carrying Souls to Christ
19 Feb 2006
Contributed by Lukas
In the wonderful Gospel story for today, the paralytic gets to Jesus only because there are four fri...
Giving God the Glory
12 Feb 2006
Contributed by Lukas
In our second reading, St. Paul tells us to do everything--even such simple acts as eating and drink...
The Compulsion to Evangelilze
05 Feb 2006
Contributed by Lukas
St. Paul tells us in our second reading that preaching the Gospel is not a matter of choice for him;...
The Distinct Authority of Jesus
29 Jan 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Another homily from Fr. Robert Barron and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
Detachment Again
22 Jan 2006
Contributed by Lukas
The familiar theme of detachment runs right through all three of our readings for this week. Paul te...
Christ and the Nations
08 Jan 2006
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus Christ is God's love made flesh, a gift to all the nations. As such, he transcends the dispute...
Haste, Astonishment, and Treasuring
01 Jan 2006
Contributed by Lukas
There are three words that jump out at me from our Gospel reading for today's feast: "haste," "aston...
A Baby Born in Straw Poverty
25 Dec 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, I read an interview with Bono, the lead singer of the group U2. Asked about his religious ...
David and Mary
18 Dec 2005
Contributed by Lukas
For the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church asks us to juxtapose stories of David and Mary. David de...
To Heal the Brokenhearted
11 Dec 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Our first reading for this Sunday is an especially sacred one in the Christian tradition, for it was...
The Gospel of Jesus
04 Dec 2005
Contributed by Lukas
In the very first line of his Gospel, St. Mark tells us that he is going to share with us Good News,...
O How We Need a Savior
27 Nov 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Lent is, of course, a penitential season, but Advent is as well. We get in touch with our sinfulness...
Peter Maurin and Matthew 25
20 Nov 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Maurin, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, took Jesus' words in our Gospel for to...
Burying the Talents
13 Nov 2005
Contributed by Lukas
All of us believers have been entrusted with a treasure: our faith. What do we do with this treasure...
The Wise and Foolish Virgins
06 Nov 2005
Contributed by Lukas
How do we wait? That is the question addressed by Jesus' parable for today. While we wait for the se...
The Trouble With Religion
30 Oct 2005
Contributed by Lukas
At its best, religion orients our lives to God and moves us away from the terrible preoccupation wit...
The Greatest Commandment
23 Oct 2005
Contributed by Lukas
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind--and your ne...
The Wedding Banquet
09 Oct 2005
Contributed by Lukas
God the Father has prepared a wedding banquet for his Son, and we are all invited. That is the poeti...
The Vineyard
02 Oct 2005
Contributed by Lukas
In this striking parable of the vineyard, Jesus lays out both God's vision for the world as well as ...
Jesus the Slave
25 Sep 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Our second reading, from Paul's letter to the Philippians, contains one of the oldest texts in the t...
The Generous Landowner
18 Sep 2005
Contributed by Lukas
The parable that Jesus tells in our Gospel for today is one of his most disturbing and confounding. ...
Seventy Times Seven Times
11 Sep 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Our capacity to forgive others is tightly linked to our realization that we have been forgiven by Go...
Offer Your Bodies as a Living Sacrifice
28 Aug 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Paul tells the Christians in Rome to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice of praise. I suggest t...
Testing Our Faith
14 Aug 2005
Contributed by Lukas
The idea of testing faith is a common one in the Bible. Abraham's faith was tried on Mt. Moriah, as ...
Walking on the Water
07 Aug 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Often in the Bible, water functions as a symbol of chaos and sin: the waters at the beginning of cre...
The Loop of Grace
31 Jul 2005
Contributed by Lukas
It all begins with grace, and it all ends with grace. Bernanos' country priest summed up Christianit...
Both the Old and the New
24 Jul 2005
Contributed by Lukas
At the conclusion of chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, the chapter of parables, Jesus says, "the scrib...
The Mystery of the Wheat and the Weeds
17 Jul 2005
Contributed by Lukas
In our Gospel for today, we hear the parable of the wheat and the tares. Jesus speaks of the mysteri...
The Irresistable Word
10 Jul 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Our first reading, from the prophet Isaiah, shows that God's word is not so much descriptive as crea...
Zechariah's Strange Prophecy
03 Jul 2005
Contributed by Lukas
We hear in our first reading from the prophet Zechariah. This post-exilic figure is trying to reassu...
Are You Not Aware?
26 Jun 2005
Contributed by Lukas
In our second reading for this week, St. Paul reminds the Christian community in Rome that baptism m...
What Are You Afraid Of?
19 Jun 2005
Contributed by Lukas
"Who or what are you most afraid of?" is, I submit, a very important spiritual question. To answer i...
The New Israel
12 Jun 2005
Contributed by Lukas
In our first reading from the book of Exodus, we hear the wonderful promise of God to Moses and his ...
The Conversion of Matthew
05 Jun 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Our Gospel for this week is a literary and theological masterpiece. It subtly yet powerfully tells t...
The Liturgy: A Play of Priest, Congregation, and Ritual
29 May 2005
Contributed by Lukas
On this feast of Corpus Christi, I would like to reflect on the sacred liturgy, the central prayer o...
The New Pope and the Trinity
22 May 2005
Contributed by Lukas
In my course on the Trinity here at the seminary, I have, for many years, been using Joseph Ratzinge...
The Falling of the Fire
15 May 2005
Contributed by Lukas
On this great feast of Pentecost, we reflect on the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. God's Spir...
Habemus Papam (Part 2 of 2)
08 May 2005
Contributed by Lukas
This week I continue my exploration of the life, career, and work of our new Pope, Joseph Ratzinger....
Habemus Papam (Part 1 of 2)
01 May 2005
Contributed by Lukas
This week and next, I reflect on the life and work of Joseph Ratzinger, the man who now leads the ch...