The Shocking Beatitudes

Today’s Gospel focuses on the 8 beatitudes (Mt 5:1-10). It’s the roadmap to attaining true happiness. “Blessed be” is another way of saying ‘objectively happy’, since happiness and holiness are the flip sides of human fulfillment. This understanding of happiness, which begins in this life and is completed in the next, comes from the inside […]... Read More

How Can Jesus Command Us to Love Our Enemies?

Today’s gospel reading has Jesus exhorting His followers to love their enemies, contrasting this with Jewish and pagan teaching. . There are two places mentioned in scripture that Jesus’ followers express dismay at the difficulty of His teaching: consuming Him in the Eucharist (Jn 6:66) and His ban on divorce (Mt 19:10). If there were […]... Read More

Christmas in the Mosaic of Jesus’ Human Life

Christmas is a milestone in the human life of Jesus, but not its beginning. Taking on a human nature, God shows us the entirety of the human lifecycle. The baby Jesus, who is the second Person of God taking on a human nature, is but one point in the maturity of the great mosaic of Jesus' human life.... Read More
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The Bottom Line Commandment

In today’s gospel, Jesus separates the sheep from the goats – in principle – with one simple line: “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). We can infer that those who don’t, won’t. Since this fundamental precept is the difference in one’s eternal destiny between Heaven from Hell, it’s imperative that […]... Read More
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Pope Francis?

John Paul II and Benedict XVI represented Catholicism unusually well. Nevertheless, bad popes are still popes, just like a bad father remains your father, regardless. Jesus as Head of His body the Church is ultimately in control, not the one to whom He gives the keys as successor of St. Peter. The prime minister can […]... Read More