From Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Act & Being: …the being of revelation “is” the being of the community of persons constituted and embraced by the person of Christ, wherein individuals finds themselves  already in new existence. p. 123 Some years ago I heard the then Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Martini,  preach the Sunday after Easter…the Doubting Thomas [...]

Chicago Theological Union was one of the first Catholic theologates to hire a Rabbi. CTU was a pioneer in great biblical studies among Catholic theology schools and the rabbi had great colleagues and  was a great success from the start. During the first year and the High Holy Days he was asked how he was…”I [...]

We all know of families who had a beloved member die at Christmas time and we thought how terrible because every time Christmas comes around the trauma of the death will be remembered and spoil the holiday. In fact, I think one secret of Christmas, kept very much to ourselves is that if there is [...]

Hints about the Eucharist: To understand it would help being Jewish. The Jewish community knows all about Passover. They know what it means to offer a sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of the heart, the worship of the whole self offered to God. The Passover is not something to be watched. Jews and Protestants like [...]

In thevirtualoratory.com  I posted a brief review of a book called Winter, a Spiritual Biography of the Season, a collection of very short essays by writers ranging from Kathleen Norris to Basho. Even people in warm climates face interior winters of discontent that resist the sun and beauty leaving hearts buried in darkness, covered over [...]

The Church liturgy reflects the natural reality of the northernish part of the world…darker, too dry or too wet…colder. Can we make it through the long winter? Will spring just bring more disaster? The scripture readings from Daniel, the Gospel readings about the end of time, the Second Coming…try to cross out the happy shopping, [...]

Easter? Easter! Keep your eye on the prize, says the old hymn that inspired the Civil Rights movement. That hymn came out originally as Keep Your Hands on the Plow. Farmers like students are tempted to give up because spring is so lovely and who wants to work? Keep your eyes on the prize.

Just as I was starting this post my supervisor Rabbi David Teva came in so we could start clearing out the common fridge so Passover items can be stored. The oldie moldie will be thrown out to make way for the new. This Holy Week, Holy Thursday, will spot light priesthood among other things. The [...]