The Good Word

Years ago as a teenager I used to listen to the music of Larry Norman perhaps the first of the Jesus rockers Norman now deceased has been the source of much controversy in the Christian rock world including an unflattering portrait in a recent documentary film One thing that could not be sai

The basis of the conflict here between Jesus and his critics Pharisees and those who professionally know the Law is the set of laws known as the laws of cleanliness nbsp Many of these laws came into being because of concerns for health dirtiness could be a cause of harm for many in one s fami

A few years ago a reading group to which I belong took on the task of reading The City of God by St Augustine Every Friday we would meet to discuss the twenty pages we had set for ourselves that week the next week we would move on to the next twenty pages By the time the academic year was windi

If I were preaching on these readings my main objective would be to avoid re-enforcing the idea strongly if sometime subliminally held by Christians that Jews are almost unavoidably legalistic and hypocritical about their arcane law nbsp It can sound as if Jesus is saying that which I would al

nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp With this Gospel reading John closes his long discourse about the bread of life a discourse occasioned by Jesus feeding bread to thousands nbsp Here John repeats old themes doubts and inability to believe even betrayal nbsp Also here John repeats his claim that in

I consider myself a rather conservative scholar on matters of interpretation though honestly I do not think labels such as conservative or liberal ought to be applied to interpretation of the Scriptures The real issue in interpreting the Scriptures the major dividing line is whether one

This Sunday completes the lengthy discourse of Jesus about the bread of life nbsp On the past two Sundays Jesus has affirmed that he is the cause of a person s living beyond the grave that he will raise up a person from death to life forever nbsp It is faith in him that is asked from each of

The second reading for the Twentieth Sunday in ordinary time continues with Ephesians chapter 5 15-20 and the exhortation for holy living The NAB translates the first phrase in v 15 as watch carefully how you live which the NRSV translates be careful then how you live I like the translation

The Gospel reading for the Thursday of the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time Matthew 18 21-19 1 comes at the end of what is generally considered to be the fourth discourse in Matthew the Church or Ecclesial discourse The parable that is told is found only in Matthew rsquo s Gospel and is told by

nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp The Gospel reading for the Feast of the Assumption is the Visitation that meeting made up of Elizabeth rsquo s words of greeting to Mary and Mary rsquo s poetic response to Elizabeth nbsp As is elsewhere so often the case we cannot understand this story without rec