One of the many signs of the genius of the Church is how often the first reading and Gospel are so perfectly paired.

I have to admit that before writing this, I didn’t know what a terebinth was. It’s right there in the first reading, a word that I’ve surely come across before.

The Gospel given to us by the Church today contains the familiar story of the Good Samaritan, a story with a clear moral message about helping those in need regardless of our personal aversions to them.

All throughout the Old Testament, and very clearly in Revelation, God speaks of the Holy City. From the locked gates of Eden, humanity has longed to return to the place of God’s friendship, an endeavor He encourages and even promises to His faithful people.

What about the “wow” factor? That’s not an expression biblical scholars often use when we talk about the words and deeds of Jesus in the Gospels, but it’s useful just the same.

My students are just as surprised to learn that the scientist responsible for the Big Bang theory was a diocesan priest from Belgium named Georges Lemaître. I challenge them to rethink their preconceptions of the relationship between religion and science by reflecting on this statement:

The Good News of Christ comes to us in each of our countless vernaculars, in Spanish and Igbo and Kreyòl Ayisyen, in Polish and Tagalog, Korean and Mandarin and in English—just some of the languages in which we praise God in our diocese—and in so many others besides.

I returned to NY Presbyterian (Booth Memorial) as soon as I received a text that my dad had taken a serious turn with his condition. By the time I arrived, he had already been resuscitated twice. An hour later, his heartrate began to slow down again.

I am stating the obvious when I say we are living in stressful times, especially living here in New York City during the pandemic.