casual theology

People often look at the four Gospels and wonder why there are slight differences between them. They all share the same essential message, that Jesus was the Son of God in the flesh who lived and died and rose from the dead. Yet each Gospel has it's own particular lens of looking at Jesus: to Matthew Jesus is the Messiah, to Mark he is the Lord, to Luke he is the Divine Healer, and for John the Son of God. Vatican II's document on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, tells us that  scripture is "the words of God, expressed in the words of men" (DV 13).  By way of analogy, this video does a great job of showing how different photographers, trying to emphasize a particular idea, produced different views of the same man. Again, like the Gospels, the essence of the man photographed is the same, the lighting, angle, and setting give different perspectives.

[Note: These reflections were originally posted for Lent 2011.] "I thirst." (John 19:28) It’s approaching three o’clock in the afternoon. For nearly 20 hours Jesus has endured torturous treatment at the hands of the chief priests and Romans. He’s been tried, beaten, scourged, dragged his cross through the city and finally nailed to it. Since noon he’s hung on the cross, the hot sun beating down on him. He called to mind Psalm 22 when he cried out, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” That Psalm goes on to describe his condition when it says, “My mouth is dried up like clay, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.” But, Christ's thirst was for more than water, and his words call out to each of us today just as they did to those at the foot of the cross. Jesus thirsts for us. Stop and think about that for a moment. God longs for us. His desire for us isn't born out of necessity, as if there is something lacking in God, but springs from his love...

[Note: These reflections were originally posted for Lent 2011.] "Woman, behold your son…Behold your mother." (John 19:26-27) Just a few weeks ago we celebrated the feast of the Annunciation. As we listen to the final words of Jesus before his death and resurrection we also call to mind the words of Mary to the angel, "Be it done unto me according to your will." How similar is Mary's abandonment to the will of God as her own son's prayer in the garden the night before he died, "Not my will but your will be done." Here at the cross the obedience of Mary and Jesus come together to free us from our slavery to sin so that we may use our will to say yes to God as well. In these simple words Jesus entrusts his own mother to the Church, represented by the beloved disciple, and the Church to his mother. We can be confident that as we look to Mary she will always lead us to her son. She was there when he was conceived, there when he performed his ...

[Note: These reflections were originally posted for Lent 2011.] "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) Dr. Bernard Nathanson passed away on February 21, 2011. Dr. Nathanson was a leader of the pro-abortion movement and founding member of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL, now the National Abortion Rights Action League). He estimated that he had supervised or performed over 75,000 abortions including the abortion of his own child. He admitted that he and his associates purposely feed misinformation to the media and deliberately attacked the Catholic Church in order to change public opinion to support legalizing abortion in the late 1960’s. Then something happened. Dr. Nathanson started to question the pro-abortion claim that the unborn child was merely a collection of cells and not a human life. A longtime atheist, Nathanson still continued to support abortion rights despite his growing doubts unt...

This election cycle has seen its share of incivility, name-calling, insults, lies, and crudeness. It’s not a stretch to say that it’s brought out the worst in many people. Whether it’s the Wikileaks emails revealing corruption, bigotry, and arrogance from the Hillary camp, or the leaked video tapes (and outright public comments) from Trump displaying misogynistic, narcissistic, and immature behavior it is clear that the 2016 election has been better suited for a Jerry Springer episode than the selection process for the leader of the free world. A simple survey of Facebook posts and comments shows how deeply divided our nation is, and how winning political points is more important than the methods used to get there. This all reached a new low on the eve of the election when Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life posted two videos (one on Facebook, one on YouTube) in which he displayed the body of a child killed during a second trimester saline abortion on an altar while deliver...

The mass readings for Sunday (7/24), the seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, present us with a teaching about prayer, more specifically intercessory prayer. In the first reading Abraham negotiates with God over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. As God contemplates destroying the cities for their rampant sins, Abraham pleads with God to spare them for the sake of a righteous few. In the back and forth conversation Abraham starts with asking for mercy if merely fifty righteous could be found, gradually lowing the number down to ten. There are some who look at this passage and see a vengeful God ready to smote while kind Abraham has to argue with him to save the cities. It’s the same kind of situation when we see Moses pleading for mercy on behalf of Israel before the Lord. So what’s the deal? Why does God make Abraham and Moses plead for mercy? Isn’t God merciful? It is difficult for many to read these stories and understand what God is doing, especially when the focus i...

I believe the Unites States of America is truly one of the greatest civilizations in the history of mankind. As a nation it has contributed to the safety, security, and prosperity of not just itself but most of the world through the innovation and generosity of its citizens and the socio-economic and political example of its government. This is not to say that it is perfect. America has a problem. It’s a problem that’s been there since its very beginning. It’s like a congenital birth defect—a problem that is rooted in the very DNA of the nation: Violence. It was violent resistance that brought our nation into existence. It was violent oppression against Native American that fueled its expansion. It was violent and bloody war that ended the violent and dehumanizing practice of slavery. Violence against the family through abortion and divorce has been a means of economic gain for many. The option of resulting to violent means to address and solve whatever problems we face is a v...