I did some research on this Gospel reading to find out what Jesus was talking about here in terms of the dishonest money. In this practice of usury, the lender is imposing his own interest and his agent is imposing an extra ...

Today happens to be my 40th birthday. This is the birthday when you start getting the over the hill jokes. I guess it's supposed to be middle-aged, but I come from pretty long-lived stock. I still have three grandparents ...

Every year I've struggled with the problem of what to "give up" for Lent. The year I gave up Pepsi I ended up with a very nasty caffeine withdrawal headache. The year I gave up meat I ended up making a permanent lifestyle ...

All the readings today are really about not putting anything else before God in our lives. That's the true definition of sin: putting something before God in our lives. All three readings today deal with that issue. The ...

Lent isn't just about giving up candy or soda; it's about giving up sin. It's about giving up anything that keeps you away from God and spirituality. And as we see in the first reading, there is a huge benefit to giving ...

At first I thought the readings for today were contradictory. In the first reading it's said that the wise, the learned, are doomed. In the gospel, the wise virgins are the ones who are saved. You would think wisdom would ...

Today's readings are pretty harsh! And I suppose they should be. Their meaning is very important, if pretty simple: stuff is not the way. From the first reading we get the idea loud and clear that stuff will not last. ...

Today's readings are all about forgiveness and the mercy of God, but there is another angle to forgiveness and that deals with justice. God is merciful and forgives our sins whatever they are, if we are contrite, if we are ...

"Blessed are they who hope in the Lord."||Those who put their hope in the Lord and trust in God are blessed, and those who trust only in people are disappointed. Sometimes the desire for immediate gratification gets the ...

Lent is always difficult, and not always for the right reasons. There's always the problem with what to 'give up for Lent.' My first Lent as a Catholic, over twenty years ago, I gave up meat, and I haven't eaten it since. ...