As an outstanding student of the Gospels, the Rev. John Meier set himself to present the historical Jesus to the world, producing in five volumes one of the longest works ever published on the life and person of Jesus.

It is clear that most people think using Jesus’ name to express anger is acceptable. But this should not only be off-limits, it should be confronted as anti-Christian.

Two scholars who died this week—Albert Nolan, O.P., and Msgr. John P. Meier—made enormous contributions to our understanding of the historical Jesus and his message.

Our eschatology became focused upon place rather than person, but that is a fundamental distortion of the Gospel preached by the disciples.

A life lived in the Gospel makes demands upon us. If it does not, we need to look again. Maybe we are not living such a life.

In his general audience, Pope Francis emphasized how following Jesus often means accepting that we don’t have total control over our lives, especially as we age.