The Dispatch
The First Sunday of Lent: Deluges and Deserts, Sin and Salvation
On the Readings for Sunday, February 18, 2018, the First Sunday of Lent […]
Exodus
The Dispatch
Exodus, Lent, and becoming a true nation
Ten years ago, I began a most extraordinary Lent by walking up the Aventine Hill to the Basilica of Santa Sabina on the first day of the Roman station church pilgrimage – an eight-week journey […]
The Dispatch
Exodus and the Paschal Journey of Lent
“God spoke further to Moses: ‘Go and gather the elders of the Israelites, and tell them, The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and […]
The Dispatch
The Lamb of God and the Salvation of the World
Readings: • Is 49:3, 5-6 • Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 • 1 Cor 1:1-3 • Jn 1:29-34 Taken as a whole, today’s readings can, I think, be summarized in a single sentence: The […]
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The prayer that we breathe
Readings: • Ex 17:8-13 • Ps 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 • 2 Tm 3:14-4:2 • Lk 18:1-8 How long can any of us live without air? A few minutes at best? How long can we […]
The Dispatch
Apocalypse How?
Readings: • Acts 13:14, 43-52 • Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5 • Rev 7:9, 14b-17 • Jn 10:27-30 Pop quiz: which book of the Bible describes black helicopters, high-tech warfare involving Russia and China, and computer […]
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Easter Vigil: A night different from every other night
“Why is this night different from every other night?” That is the question asked by the youngest at each Passover seder. When we apply it to our own celebration, we discover that the world cannot […]
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The Mystery of God and the Lessons of the Desert
Readings: • Ex. 3:1-8a, 13-15 • Ps 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11 • 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12 • Luke 13:1-9 When asked why they climb, professional mountaineers often give varied but interconnected reasons. They […]
The Dispatch
The Road of Gathering, Exodus, and Salvation
Readings: • Jer 31:7-9 • Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 • Heb 5:1-6 • Mk 10:46-52 “In the beginning,” states Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, “God made human nature one […]
The Dispatch
Recovering the fourfold sense of Scripture in John 6
The story recounted in John 6 is both miraculous and sacrificial, two things modernity rejects but to which the Church holds fast. […]