The Sunday Gospel Our Sunday Gospels this year are taken from Luke, but today’s story of the woman accused of adultery is found in John’s Gospel 8:1-11. But it is very likely that it was originally a portion of Luke that somehow found its way into the manuscripts of John. Its present location breaks the continuity of…
Forty years ago, Philip Rieff wrote a book entitled The Triumph of the Therapeutic. In essence, he argued that today in the Western world so many people need psychological therapy mainly because our family structure has grown weak and many community structures have broken down. He contends that in societies where there are still strong…
When did we lose it? When did we lose that deeply-engrained, forever-sanctioned sense that however much we might disagree with each other or even dislike each other, we still need to accord each other basic courtesy, respect, and politeness? We’ve lost that, at least for the most part. From the highest levels of government to…
The Sunday Gospel If all of Scripture were to be destroyed with the exception of one passage, my choice to be preserved would be today’s Gospel (Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32), the parable of the Prodigal Son. This is the essence of salvation history, the story of sin and God’s offer of forgiveness. It describes three steps…
The Sunday Gospel Lent is a season of preparation for Easter when we will renew our baptismal promises to reject the wiles of Satan and to commit ourselves afresh to being a follower of Jesus Christ. Today’s Gospel (Luke 13: 1-9) is an encouragement to improve our lives with the help of God’s grace. Remember…
We enter the season of Lent by putting ashes on our foreheads. What’s symbolised here? Perhaps the heart understands better than the head because more people go to church on Ash Wednesday than on any other day of the year, including Christmas. The queues to receive the ashes in many churches are endless. Why? Why…
Last Sunday we were with Jesus on the Mount of Temptation. Today we see him on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). It’s such a contrast of experiences, from temptation to the vision of divine glory. He took with him Peter, John and James and went up the mountain to pray. Climbing the mountain is…
In his farewell speech in John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that he is going away but that he will leave us a parting gift, the gift of his peace, and that we will experience this gift in the spirit he leaves behind. How does this work? How do we leave peace and a spirit behind…
When I take a passage of scripture for reflection, I begin with my pencil to underline words that strike me. For the First Sunday of Lent, we have Luke’s account of the temptations of Jesus (Luke 4:1-13). First, I underlined Holy Spirit. Luke is the evangelists of the Holy Spirit so it comes as no surprise…
For 15 years, I taught a course entitled The Theology of God. The students in that course were predominately seminarians preparing for ministry, along with a number of lay students who were preparing to serve as ministers in various capacities in their churches. I would always teach what the curriculum called for: the key biblical…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser