Body building
Why commemorate a church dedication that happened in fourth-century Rome? First, because St. John Lateran is no ordinary church -- it's the cathedral church of the pope and still known as "the mother ...
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Jesus draws a blunt picture in today's Gospel. The Pharisee's prayer is almost a parody of the thanksgiving psalms (see for example Psalms 30, 118). Instead of praising God for His mighty works, ...
Hope from on high
The Lord is our guardian, beside us at our right hand, interceding for us in all our spiritual battles. In today's Psalm, we're told to lift our eyes to the mountains, that our help will come ...
Returning thanks
A foreign leper is cleansed and in thanksgiving returns to offer homage to the God of Israel. We hear this same story in both the First Reading and Gospel today. There were many lepers in Israel in ...
Life by faith
Because of his faith, the just man shall live. We hear in today's First Reading the original prophetic line made so central by St. Paul (see Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). We are ...
A great chasm
The rich and powerful are visited with woe and exile in today's Liturgy -- not for their wealth but for their refusal to share it; not for their power but for their indifference to the suffering at ...
Prudent stewards
The steward in today's Gospel confronts the reality that he can't go on living the way he has been. He is under judgment. He must give account for what he has done. The exploiters of the poor ...
