The Good Word

The Messiah as Jesus own Jewish history shows was anything but a person who should die in humiliation powerless defenseless and public criminal Mark set himself the task in composing his Gospel story to flinch neither from the powerful demonstration of glorious attributes of a king Messia

Mark s opening line focuses his reader s attention upon Jesus Mark speaks about good news which has all the richness of divine blessing since it is God s joyful message to human beings for their good In the tradition leading up to the New Testament such good meant above all f

In offering a systematic interpretation of Mark s Gospel I follow him chapter by chapter with what can be called a center-slightly left interpretation this is in accord with many many Catholic exegetes today By following what I write you will see practically what it means to be cente

At the morning parade in Dachau on 22nd July 1943 six prisoners were found to have escaped Retribution was swift and brutal Randomly selected 12 people were hanged As the other prisoners watched their 12 fellow inmates gasp for breath someone in the crowd cried out Where is God Silence de

In commenting on liturgical readings and feasts of the Church I have found myself wishing that I could say more or better say more systematically So what I have suggested and have been given permission to do is offer a systematic run through Mark s Gospel later other New Testam

In commenting on liturgical readings and feasts of the Church I have found myself wishing that I could say more or better say more systematically So what I have been given permission to do is offer a systematical run through Mark s Gospel later other New Testament writings fol

Every Monday Wednesday and Friday I will discuss a portion of the Marcan Gospel to be followed eventually by Luke-Acts I will follow the Gospel chapter by chapter thus in a systematic way This means that I will not be commenting on liturgical texts or feasts of the Church Because others do

A furor broke out in a country diocese some years ago about the retreat style of priest who was taking Catholic students in their last year of high school or who were attending University away for weekend retreats On the Friday night of the retreat this priest would tell the young people that by th

Matthew tells a story about a non-Jewish woman who sought a cure from Jesus His initial response to her helps define what we know of Jesus purpose on earth namely the appeal to his own people to repent so as to pass the final judgment and enter into eternal happiness Only at the end of the G

One bright Sunday morning everyone in the town got up early and went to the local church Before Mass started the townspeople were sitting in their pews and talking about their lives their families Suddenly Satan appeared at the front of the church Everyone started screaming and running for