casual theology

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When Jesus had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.” – Luke 1:8-9 “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” – Luke 2:1-4 Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to the apostles and early disciples to give them the power they would need to spread the Gospel throughout the world. He called each of them to be martyrs (the Greek word martus is what we translate as witness in English bibles)...

When I was about six or seven years old I loved Superman. I wanted to be Superman. One day I made a cape out of a bath towel, climbed up on my twin bed next the window, grabbed the string attached to the curtain rod, tied it to the belt loop on the back of my jeans, and jumped off the bed expecting to be suspended in the air so I could “fly” like Superman. Unfortunately, the belt loop ripped from my jeans and I belly flopped onto the bedroom floor. No super powers for me. What’s your favorite super power? Flying? Super strength? Invisibility? Wouldn’t it be great to have a super power? Steve Rogers was the proto-typical 98-pound weakling. He had a brave and heroic spirit, but physically there’s just not much to him. Steve was selected to take part in a secret government experiment. He was injected with Super-Soldier Serum and subjected to Vita-Rays. Steve was transformed into Captain America, a super soldier with super strength. When we receive the sacraments we go thr...

The third chapter of Matthew’s Gospel focuses on John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus. There is a clear connection between baptism and mission. We come to the waters of baptism and are transformed, born again as new creations. The old sinful self is replaced by the abiding presence of God. There is a fundamental and indelible change in our very nature and existence, something that marks us for all eternity as belonging to God. With this new identity comes a new purpose and meaning for our lives, for we are baptized not just to save us, but that we may go forth and bring the Good News of salvation to others. It is no coincidence that Jesus’ public ministry begins after his baptism. He sets the example and standard for us to follow. As the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism, we received that same Spirit at our baptism. Baptism grafts us into the life and ministry of Jesus, into his death and resurrection, and empowers us to continue his mission on earth...

Matthew 2 “Let us also follow the Magi. Let us separate ourselves from our barbarian customs, and put them far behind us, so that we may see Christ—since they, too, would have missed seeing him if they had not been far from their own country…Let us also rise up. Though everyone else is troubled, let us run to the house of the young Child. Though kings and nations and tyrants stand in the way, let our desire not fade. In that way we shall repel all the dangers that we face.” (St. Joh Chrysostom, Homily 7 on Matthew) What can we learn from the Magi? So often we focus on the gifts they brought, but St. John Chrysotom reminds us that they can also be a model for discipleship. The Magi took a leap of faith. They traveled from far off lands—something that was not without a fair amount of danger in those days—to seek after the new King. They left behind their homes not knowing for certain if they would ever return, but they deemed it worth the risk. This really isn’t all ...

Matthew 1 I have to admit, it is very tempting to just skip most of the opening chapter of Matthew. After all who wants to waste time going through all of that "so and so begat so and so who begat so and so and so forth." Earlier in  my faith I wondered why Matthew (or the Holy Spirit) would bother with all that genealogy anyway. It wasn't until I took the time to look deeper that it all began to make sense.  Ancestry.com is a private family tree tracing company with Morman roots (pun intended) that boasts over 12-million records, more than 2-million paying subscribers, and had nearly $400-million in revenue. Cable TV network TLC has a reality show called "Who Do You Think You Are?" that highlights celebrities finding out about their family histories and it averages 5 to 7-million viewers per episode. People are fascinated with genealogy, and it's no secret why. Where we come from and our family histories can have powerful im...

This post was originally published on Catholic365.com “This I command you, to love one another.” (John 15:17) It is said that when the Apostle John was living in Ephesus in his old age he would often address the church there with the same simple exhortation, “My little children, love one another.” The elders of the community, tired of hearing the same repeated message, would press John to share with the church some great insight about Jesus or being a disciple. John would double-down by telling them that these simple words were the commands of Jesus, and if they had nothing else of the Gospel to truly live these words would be enough.  Love is hard, at least the kind of love that Jesus spoke of, modeled and expected of his disciples. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13) This is the love that God is calling each of us to, and it is the...

Yesterday was the solemnity of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and the perfect occasion to reflect on what it means to call Christ my king. Our culture doesn’t like mixing politics and religion. Every year we witness numerous efforts to push religion from the public square. A relativistic, pluralist society simply cannot tolerate the absolute claims of religion, specifically those of Christianity. But, to call Christ King is as much a political as it is a religious statement. When Paul claimed “Jesus is Lord” it was a direct challenge to Caesar’s claim to be Lord.  In fact, it was the rise of modernism and secularism that motivated Pope Pius XI to institute this feast in 1925, when he stated: “Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society.” (...