One of the traditional ways for Christians to understand the prophets of ancient Israel is to see the prophets as those who predicted the coming of the Messiah Such connections were made early on even in the New Testament itself making it is hard for Christians to hear a voice cries in the w

20th Sunday Jer 38 4-6 8-10 The vivid image of Jeremiah plopping ignominiously into the cistern of Prince Malchiah generates a pair of insights for me First the courage of the person who rescued him The man s name is not given and perhaps he was called Ebed-Melek which is Servant or sla

The verb assume has several meanings Its primary meaning is take up which is precisely the sense intended in today s celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary As we pray in the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer Today the virgin Mother of God was taken up into heaven We ce

If preaching the Gospel is a vocation it seems odd that little attention is paid to its potential in candidates for the priesthood Can he do the studies is the first question that tends to come to mind meaning the whole panoply of academic philosophy and theology that will engage him for six o

As regular readers of The Good Word know one of our frequent contributors is Father Richard Leonard an Australian Jesuit who splits his time between the Jesuit Theological College in Australia and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome If you d like to hear more from Father Leonard be s

This Sunday is the nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Daniel Harrington writes about faith and hope Sunday s reading from Hebrews he notes contains the only explicit definition of faith in the Bible Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen Dianne