The Good Word

The Bible is populated with many characters that appear briefly and then vanish from the scene Philip the most prominent person in Acts 8 is one of these Except for a brief mention of his name in 6 5 and 21 8 all we know about him involves two scenes of preaching–one to the Samaritans and one

In today s first reading we meet Samaria and Samaritans We know generally who they were though they are a hot spot in current study Samaria was a capital city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th and 8th centuries often in trouble with the biblical historian of the period for roy

For the fifth Sunday of Easter the first reading continues with the Acts of the Apostles and the passage chosen raises a number of historical questions Luke again makes the point that the number of disciples continued to grow 6 1 which directs us not only to the acceptance of the message in g

Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us The disciples hearts were on fire during this sacred conversation And that fire was so hot that it indelibly seared their souls with the intimate knowledge peace and love of the resurre

It is hard for the congregation to take the homily more seriously than the preacher takes it Anon Speakers exhibit visual and verbal signs that prompt their listeners to make judgments about their right to communicate R Kennedy quoting King Power and Communication If we ap

The Gospel selection for this fourth Sunday of Easter John 10 1-10 calls attention to at least these three points First Jesus identifies himself as the legitimate guide of Christians it is he who will lead them to have the deepest desire of their hearts As John s entire Gospel suggests the

I have a friend of mine who is a great lover of classical music His knowledge of it is vast He only needs to hear a few bars of most musical works and he confidently declares Mozart s Piano Concerto in A or Stravinsky s Rite of Spring He s always right Another of his superfluous but

From April 30 Second Sunday of Easter to but excluding Pentecost Sunday the Gospel readings of the Eucharist this year are all but one Luke c 24 taken from John s Gospel Given this attention to John in our Eastertide celebrations it might be of service to consider the principle by which

In most of the NT materials excluding the letters though the narrated events are set in the 30s of the first century C E the accounts themselves were produced decades later fruit of long and diverse reflection by the young Church on its experience of Jesus Think analogously if after many