casual theology

(Note:  Well, time flies. I had every intention of posting during the Easter Triddum and especially on Easter Sunday, but busy schedules and internet connectivity issues at home conspired against me. Fortunately, it is still the Easter season.) “ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile ; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep   in Christ are lost.   If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. ” – 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 What a glorious cause for celebration. I love Easter. As St. John Paul II said, “We are Easter people, and alleluia is our song!” Easter makes all the difference. If not for the empty tomb, why bother celebrating Christmas? If Christ isn’t raised from the dead then he’s not God and we have no reason to celebrate his incarnation and birth. If not for the empty tomb, why bother going on at all? It is the empty tomb that gives us hope to carry on, hope to...

The way of the cross began with cheers and acclamations. The crowds yelling “Glory!” and “Hosanna!” also cried out “Crucify!” How fickle people can be, and how quickly friends can turn. As I ponder the start of Holy Week I’m drawn to consider how often I concern myself with the opinions of others. How have I compromised at times out of fear of man? I’m also struck by how many Christians mare caught up with winning the approval of the world. Think of the compromises so many denominations have made in the area of morals just to keep up with the times. How many so called “Catholics” continuously call for major changes in doctrine? God has a plan, and that plan does not depend upon the cheers or jeers of others. It’s easy to be a disciple when the crowds are cheering for Jesus, but what do we do when they come with their pitchforks and torches? 

I’ve always wondered how the reality of this: Ended up becoming this: Thanks to Darren Aronofsky’s movie the story of Noah has been getting a good bit of attention lately. Unfortunately, most of that attention has been focused on debating the merits of the movie and how it compares to the details of the biblical text. In fact, bible websites like BibleGateway.com and others have seen 200% - 300% increases in traffic to their sites, and specifically to Genesis 6-8, since the movie premiered. What does the story of Noah teach us, and what does it mean today? Sin is a serious thing. When you read the Genesis account, you see that the sinfulness of mankind was such an offense to God that he decides to wipe out creation altogether. Think about the reality of that event compared to the nursery themed cartoon we've made it into. We live in a culture that has lost its sense of sin. In fact, it ...

“So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” ( John 19:17-18, 25-27 ) It is only John’s gospel that tells us that Mary was at the cross. Only John who recorded the dying words of Jesus addressed to his mother. It was only John because he was there too. It seems odd, even a bit cold, that Jesus would call his mother “woman”. But this one word carries so much weight. Eve was the first woman and it is by “woman” that she is addres...

I want to continue to break down the Gospel reading from the 3 rd Sunday of Lent . Yesterday I examined the lessons Jesus taught us about evangelization . Today the focus is on the promise of finding true satisfaction and peace--Jesus' promise of life-giving water. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst” Reflecting on his life of searching for meaning, St. Augustine wrote, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." This statement is true for everyone, but the problem is our lives are so overwhelmed by distractions that we are rarely still or quiet long enough to listen to our hearts. Our modern culture is consumed with improving “quality of life” but our understanding of the meaning of life is so shallow that the things we chase ultimately lead to greater dissatisfaction. Here in this passage from John’s Gospel we see Jesus offering real m...

In the story of Jesus and the woman at the well we are given a “how to” lesson on evangelization by Jesus. OPPORTUNISTIC EVANGELISM Jesus didn’t go out of his way to find the Samaritan woman. By all appearances, he wasn’t really even looking to do much in the way of ministry before she came to draw water. Jesus was simply waiting at the well while the apostles went into town on a lunch break.   They were traveling from Jerusalem (Jn 2) and Judea on their way back to Galilee (Jn 4). The village of Sychar in Samaria, where this story takes place, was about the halfway point of what would have been several days of walking.  So, here is Jesus sitting and resting, minding his own business, when this Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water. This was an encounter of opportunity, not planning. Jesus engages the woman in what seems to be benign small talk. He is able to take something as simple as drawing water from a well--something this woman has likely do...