Blessing our persecutors

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The reading from the Morning Prayer of the Church (the Divine Office; breviary) is a powerful and counterintuitive exhortation from the apostle Paul that challenges our natural inclinations and societal norms. “Bless those who persecute  you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation.” (Romans 12:14-16).  Continue reading →

The Feast of St. Clare of Assisi

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Peter said to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.”  (Mt 19:27-29) Continue reading →

Peter’s Response

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This coming Sunday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

28 Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 

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Plastic Straws and Tipping Points

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Back in 2015, a YouTube video of a sea turtle with a plastic drinking straw embedded in its nostril became the image that the sustainability movement needed. It was the face that launched a thousand plastic straw bans. In many ways, the campaign was a success story — one that elevated our awareness of single-use plastics to the point where it resulted in actual policy change. The anti-plastic straw movement didn’t actually originate with the turtle video.

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Walking on the Water

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This coming Sunday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In biblical thought, only God walks on the sea (Job 9:8 – “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the back of the sea”; Ps 77:20 – “Through the sea was your way; your path, through the mighty waters, though your footsteps were unseen.”). But by treading on the sea, Jesus now takes a role that the Hebrew Bible had reserved for God alone. Continue reading →

Push eventually comes to shove

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In today’s first reading rebellious Israel finally crosses the point of no return… so to speak. If you have been following the first readings for daily Mass, you have seen the long brewing balance of Israel’ rebellion being met with God’s faithfulness. While still at the foot of Mt. Sinai they rebelled and wanted to know why God/Moses had brought them out into the dessert to die of hunger – plus there was the incident of the golden calf. God provided manna and quail. Continue reading →

Spooky Action at a Distance

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I like science and I like science fiction. So, it is always interesting when Sci-Fi uses advanced concepts of physics to animate the plots of the television shows or movies. There are several episodes of various Star Trek series that have referred to or explored the concept of quantum entanglement. Here are a few instances where quantum entanglement is mentioned or featured in Star Trek – of course I haven’t explained quantum entanglement, but maybe the way the term is used might give you insight: Continue reading →

The boys in the boat

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This coming Sunday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In this post we catch up with the disciples who have shoved off into the Sea of Galilee at Jesus’ command. With apologies to the writer Daniel James Brown, I have borrowed the title to his 2013 book on the nine young men from the University of Washington and their epic journey through the Great Depression seeking a gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. If you have not read it, put it on your “must read” list. Continue reading →

How time seems to fly

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When I was a lad, the duration of time between December 1st and Christmas Day bordered on the infinite. The duration of time measured by normal standards (Sun, moon, chronometers, etc) remains the same, but the experience has been altered. What was once near infinite is now trending towards no time at all. In some sense, each of us has our own “inner time” unrelated to the passing of hours, days, and years on clocks and calendars. I had often thought it was related to some latent ratio of the duration and the time lived.  For example, the 25 days until Christmas is a significant percentage of the entire life of a six-year old child; not so much for a septuagenarian. What lasts forever for the six-year old is the blink of an eye to grandfather. While that may be true at some level, there are more technical explanations being offered these days. Continue reading →