Tamed Passions Produce Spiritual Fruit
There ought to be a law! Isn't it fascinating that the first thing most people think about when there is some conflict or disagreement or some unwanted actions in our society is that there should be some governmental control issued to make people "behave" the way they "should?" Why...
An Eternal City
"This world is not my home. I'm just a'passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore." That's an old spiritual that I use to sing as a boy...
Pray for Those Who Watch After Your Soul
Several years ago a priest asked his brother priests to finish this sentence "The priesthood is ..." and one priest finished the sentence in this way - "The priesthood is a type of martyrdom, with times of great joy and the incredible privilege of serving the Holy Mysteries and...
Temporary Chains/Eternal Wisdom!
We learn how to make all of life sacred by making one moment of our life sacred. While that may really sound paradoxical, it makes perfect sense when you consider that it's only by a focused effort I can wake up to a wider truth. If I try to take...
Do You Know HOW You Know?
I never will forget the moment in college when I was confronted with the question "how do you know?" It was in an undergraduate philosophy class and I had actually never really thought about "how" I knew things. The fancy name for this is "epistemology." And epistemology is the...
What Is Your Definition of Freedom?
The old Janis Joplin song declares "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." Is that your definition of freedom? Nowadays the word "freedom" is usually used in the context of politics or revolution. And folks have reduced the definition of freedom to mean "doing what I want...
Facing Temptations And Winning!
The old saying is "It is easier to avoid temptation than to resist it." And while that may be true, our real lives have shown that we will most likely have to resist temptation more than we will be attentive enough to avoid it! But that isn't all bad. The...
WHY 5 Ministries in the Church
You can use a hammer to do many things, from nailing a board to a stud to breaking a window to even more nefarious and criminal acts, but "why" was the hammer made in the first place? Answer that question and you'll get to the very nature of a...
The Right Time!
The American astronaut Buzz Aldrin once said “Timing has always been a key element in my life. I have been blessed to have been in the right place at the right time.” And, of course, this reminds me of the old saying in comedy, “Timing is everything.” It really is amazing when all...
How Can a Man Be Born When He is Old? Part 5
Christ is baptized! King Solomon says this in Ecclesiastes 12:13 - "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." And that's a great way to wrap up our first week of devotionals for the New...