The incident we hear proclaimed in today’s Gospel is around two questions posed through different lenses and leading to all sorts of reactions. Jesus has foretold His impending Passion for a third time now, and those disciples who have remained with Him – who have worked with Him – still seem to be avoiding what’s right in front of their noses.
Author: settinger
Together at the Synod
Saint Paul the Apostle exhorts us: “Be firmly grounded in the faith.” The great 20th century apologist, Msgr. Ronald Knox, wrote a book entitled “Enthusiasm.” He contended that, at the root of all heresies, lies one thing – enthusiasm, and, by this phrase, Knox meant the over-emphasis of one aspect over any and all aspects of the faith.
Ministering Heart-to-Heart For 20 Years
It was another typical heart-to-heart ministry party in June in Sullivan Hall at North American Martyrs parish, Bayside – prayer, good food, special needs individuals and small groups from all over the diocese, music, more prayer and dancing flowing together naturally, plus a couple of bishops (Bishops Chapetto and Valero) and, of course, a Beatles song by Father Tom Pettei. “A good time was had by all” would be an understatement because all the love and joy of any Heart-to-Heart gathering was even more intense in this quasi-liturgical celebration.
Constancy of Marriage
Abraham Lincoln once asked, “If you call a dog’s tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?” “Five,” people would answer. “No,” Lincoln would state, “the correct answer is four.” Calling a tail a leg does not make it a leg. The same is true for marriage.
The Development Of Truth
Dear Editor: The theological disputes throughout history have served to elucidate and refine truth. In this sense, the process is dialectical and organic. Truth, as Jesus Christ, objectively is not a dialectic, nor is it static.
Kim Davis Is Not a Hero
Dear Editor: I am writing in response to the letter about the “Courage of Kim Davis” (Readers’ Forum, Sept. 19). In the past century, a tradition of heroes who defied the law and went to prison over matters of conscience has arisen. Starting in the early 20th century with the American Suffragettes, others such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., inspired important change. Their civil disobedience created social change and the doing away of injustices.
Two-Pronged Approach
Dear Editor: John Calvin was a terrible theologian. His primary idea, that God chooses to condemn millions of people to eternal damnation, regardless of any efforts they might make to the contrary, is by far the worst idea of the Reformation. This obsession with power believes in a God who would be infinitely more evil than all the world’s dictators combined, but in this worldview, power matters and victims do not. From this worldview evolved our capitalist economy, based on domination and power, granting the vast majority of benefits to a few and disregarding the suffering of millions.
I Can’t Believe the Pope Was on Campus
Reflecting on my time as an undergraduate at St. Joseph’s University, a Jesuit school in Philadelphia, Pa., there have been many absolutely unforgettable moments. After every single milestone in my college career I have thought to myself, “nothing can top this, it can’t get any better than this.”
A Tribute to Yogi
BY THE TIME “Nobody Don’t Like Yogi,” Ben Gazzara’s one-man paean to Yogi Berra reached the New York stage in the Fall of 2003, I had already joined the ranks of the many who agreed with the sentiment in that play’s title. But ’twas not always thus.
God’s Plan Is Our Mandate
“POPE FRANCIS CALLS us to be a community which builds bridges rather than walls… that is what Jesus teaches us with His words and His actions …” – Father Andy Alexander, S.J., Creighton University. The writing of these Scripture reflections begins weeks before they are read. This one was started the day ABC aired a very moving 20/20 special edition featuring a virtual audience with the Holy Father.