In the Catholic tradition we are well versed in the seasons of Advent and Christmas, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Those are the “heavyweights” of the church year, the ones that get most of the attention, require most of the preparation, and include the biggest celebrati...

The word “conversion” usually brings to mind someone leaving one religious tradition and joining another, or perhaps joining a religious tradition for the first time. Often it is seen as a singular, perhaps even dramatic event. But the Hebrew-Christian scriptures prese...

Poor Jesus! Every time he asked his followers to be childlike they thought he meant childish – and so they were. “Jesus, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us” (Mk. 9:38). James and John: “Jesus, grant...

I see him regularly on business. And although the setting is often busy and noisy, with others coming and going, his presence to me is almost unfailingly full and focused, something which I acknowledge with appreciation. His quality of presence, so unusual in a world i...

Jesus certainly disappointed a lot of people. He disappointed the religious leaders of his time, who wanted a new King David to unify and strengthen all the people of Israel. He disappointed the Zealots, who fomented insurrection and longed for a military leader who co...

It had been a typically busy, hectic day. My thoughts were still with those earlier appointments when, just moments after arriving home, the phone rang. The voice that answered my distracted greeting whiplashed me into the present, then to the past, years ago, when he...