There are lots of things that are fascinating. Consider the first reading.
In Acts 25:13-21, we find a fascinating account of the apostle Paul’s trial before King Agrippa and Festus, the Roman governor. This passage offers insights into the complexities of the political and religious dynamics at play during that time.
Continue readingIn today’s first reading, St. Paul warns the nascent Christian community of Melitus, “Know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant…” (Acts 20:29-31) Continue reading
In the first reading for today, St. Paul met some men who, as William Barclay notes, were incomplete Christians. They had received the baptism of John but they did not even know of the Holy Spirit in the Christian sense of the term. Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus…When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 19:4-5) Continue reading
The account of St. Paul’s address on the Areopagus in Athens is a masterclass in the evangelization of the culture – a skill surely important for our day and age. His arrival in Athens is, in its way, the introduction of Christianity to Europe. It was an event, while of no particular note or importance to historians, thoughts leaders, or philosophers of the day, was one that shaped the history of Western Europe and eventually the world. Continue reading
There are a lot of things we leave behind as we pass through this life. Sometimes we are intentional, sometimes not. We mature, grow up, leave home and leave behind a whole host of things that marked our passage through childhood, the teenage years, and as a young adult. Those are the intentional things. The list of unintentional things is no doubt as long. Did you know you were leaving behind a trail of your DNA? Continue reading
Recently someone remarked to me that sometimes the Catholic Church seems to be a collection of rules just for the sake of rules. I could provide a long list of examples, but I suspect you have in mind your own list of rules that give you pause. Of course one always has to discern if what you are hearing is actually a “rule” of the Church or just something someone offers as a rule – but just ain’t so. There are lots of people who offer that it is a “rule” that you have to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent. Nope. It is “the Easter Duty” to receive Holy Communion during the Easter Season – that’s a rule – and there is a historical reason for it. Continue reading
Our first reading today is taken from the 1st missionary trip of St. Barnabas and St. Paul. In Acts 13 and 14, the intrepid disciples go from Asia Minor to Cyprus, back to the mainland at Antioch, and other nearby cities. They met success, resistance, and out-and-out rejection as they proclaimed the Good News of Jesus as Lord and Savior. Their basic strategy when speaking to the Jewish community seems to be to connect the whole of salvation history as coming to fulfillment in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But what about when speaking to the Gentile community? Continue reading
In a previous assignment I served the good people of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tampa, FL. It is a beautiful church in its cathedral-like construction dating back to the early 1900s. One Sunday morning with the 10:30 am Mass just complete, I was standing out on the front sidewalk greeting people. At that point a clearly agitated man came up to me and in a rather loud and demanding voice, wanted to know why I had not celebrated the Mass in Latin. The person was not a parishioner. He was a tourist and a guest of our fair city. I explained it was not something that had been asked for by the parish and then offered the two places nearby in which a Latin Mass would be celebrated. At that point the man offered that I was probably “too stupid to learn Latin.” I should have said, “Potesne Latine loqui?” (Pretty sure the question would have been received with a blank stare) Instead, I quietly replied that I was old enough to have served as an altar boy in the Latin Mass and was familiar. In no uncertain terms he questioned my honesty, at which point the ushers removed him from the sidewalk and requested he move along. I guess I should thank my maternal genetics – mom never looked her age either. Continue reading
Here is something that has been sitting in “potential musing” folder. Rather than muse upon its content, here is the original article by Marcel Schwantes, inc.com, that caught my attention
The key to creating meaningful interactions? Take your eyes off of yourself and place it on the other person. By giving them the attention first, you’ll have a clear edge: People are naturally wired and looking for connection and positive affirmation — to be seen and heard.
And it all starts with asking the right questions. So kill the small talk and ban questions like “What do you do?” and “Where are you from?” in favor of these great conversation starters. Continue reading
Many measures of adolescent mental health began to deteriorate sometime around 2009. It is true of the number of U.S. high-school students who say they feel persistently sad or hopeless. It’s also true of reported loneliness. And it is true of emergency room visits for self-harm among Americans ages 10 to 19. This timing is suspicious because internet use among adolescents was also starting to soar during the same period. Apple began selling the iPhone in 2007. Facebook opened itself for general use in late 2006, and one-third of Americans were using it by 2009. Continue reading
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