I think I have been channeling my inner St. Peter recently. St. Peter was a very determined, almost stubborn fellow, who was quick to jump to extremes with Jesus. Most notably, St. Peter liked to speak by using a lot of “never”s.
Liturgical Seasons
The Christmas Season: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
The Christmas season is always bursting with jovial gatherings with good food, great conversations, a toast of fine wine, mistletoe, music, dancing, and lots of laughter – rejuvenating the human spirit at least until the party is over.
God is Love, Not Permissiveness
Remember the phrase, love the sinner but hate the sin? Sadly, it has fallen out of fashion for a newer, more popular one: Love me, love my sins.
Thursday of the Lord’s Supper: Christ Loved His Own To the End
The entire meaning of Lent, Holy Thursday, the Easter Triduum, can be summed up in this sentence from the gospel of John, “He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end,” since it speaks about the entire content of the life and mission of Jesus Christ; that is, to love his disciples and his brethren—us, you, me, humanity—to the very end.
Saraph Serpents, Sin, and The Saving Power of Christ Crucified
The desert is a place of harshness, trial, desolation, and isolation. I’ve been in the desert, as have you, as has every Christian. It’s a place where the wind is witheringly hot in summer and biting cold in winter. It’s lonely. It’s painful. It can be frightening.