The tax farmers in Israel, here called tax-collectors, were somewhat different from IRS agents. They were more like Mafia enforcers, employing thugs to shake down local citizens and merchants. The Romans specified how much each tax man was supposed to pay them, and the architelōē or
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2008 POLITICS
This time around, our American bishops weren't cowering in a corner–they were telling everyone that politicians who fail to defend the most defenseless humans–preborn babies–and who want to use your tax money and mine to murder these children–are not worthy of our vote.
And even
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I recently heard from a reliable source that research tells us teenage girls would rather be a gopher for a celebrity than be CEO of a major corporation. Fame is deceptive and beauty fleeting, as Proverbs says, but they are both mighty attractive to the superficial mind. We
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The great divide between Jew and Gentile was symbolized by the wall in Herod’s Temple that separated the outer court of the Gentiles from the inner Courts of Israel. Gates leading into those inner precincts were posted with signs warning that Gentile trespassers would be killed. In fact, the Book
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The Jews of Paul’s time, by and large, rejected the Son of God, and the covenant of faith. That’s why they revolted over and over against the Romans, who ultimately destroyed Jerusalem and scattered them all over the world. Here, Paul gets really cutting. He lumps the Jews who reject Christ
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The great musicologist and Congregational minister Erik Routley was once greeting his parishioners as they left church on Sunday. He noticed one of the teenage girls carrying one of the popularizing versions of the Scriptures. "I see you have the new translation of the Bible," he said. "How do
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The psalmist, probably in similar trouble, feels like he’s in the depths of the pit, surrounded by darkness. The irony is that if you go to Bethlehem, as we did three years ago, you can celebrate Eucharist in St. Jerome’s cell, where he translated the Sacred Scriptures into Latin. To get there,
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God's Will is Best
Angels are pure spirits, but it was God's intention to raise human beings, who are lower than the angels, to divine status, to union with the Trinity. An ancient tradition tells us that this was the cause of Lucifer's rebellion, jealousy over one day being ruled by a mere
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Those of us who have been shocked by God’s Truth at some point in our lives often realize that what we have been doing in good faith and, we thought, to honor God was in fact just the opposite of what God wants. And, I hasten to add, we often spend the
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"After this manner the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with his sacrifice,
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Bernard Ebbers, head of WorldCom, was known as one of the most religious CEO’s in the high-tech sector of American business. Every board meeting began with a prayer. Ebbers served as a deacon in his Mississippi Baptist church, and led a bible study very competently. He was elected to the
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John Rigas served in an armored infantry division in WW II. He worked his way up from being an employee in a Sylvania plant to own a movie theatre which he parlayed over time into the Adelphia cable system, which also employed his sons. He was a religious man. He was the backbone of his small
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Winners or Losers?
Let's go just a few years forward from Calvary. Another man in the prime of his youth, arrested for heresy by the Jews, a witness to Jesus, Stephen, the first deacon, was dragged out of the gates of Jerusalem and stoned, even as he forgave his murderers. The persecution that
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It was pretty early in the morning that September Tuesday. I was a brand-new principal; you all were about eight or nine years old, just about the age when long-term memories begin to stick in your head. I walked out into my assistant’s office; she was turning on the television to see what was
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Forgiving Jerks
There's great power in our hands. It's the power to forgive a jerk-bully, a jerk-cheater, a jerk-thief. It’s powerful because it's unexpected. Jerks expect us to cry, run, or take revenge. The last thing they expect is forgiveness. That's why it's so disarming. Forgive them
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Prayer in Health
When you come to my office with a problem, often I'll offer to pray with you for God's healing and discernment. If you have a sprained hand and haven't grown in your spiritual life, you might think, "What a waste of time."
A few years ago there was even an experiment in which
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Remember, the only difference between a politician who uses your money to pay for abortion and the mafia chieftain who hires a contract killer is that,
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I asked God for the election of godly candidates to public office–exactly in those words–and after Mass one of our good parishioners criticized me for praying for the election of Republicans. Let’s
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Biochemists like Michael Behe showed the world the enormous complexity of biochemical systems, like the bacterial flagellum and the translation of light into electrical signals in the retina. They argued–and still haven’t been refuted–that the biochemicals–enzymes and proteins–used to create these
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The New Covenant in the blood of Christ, which we re-present at this hour, is the fulfillment of the Old. We forget this important reality at our peril, because it leads us to either pass by our indebtedness to our older brothers, the Jews, or, like certain preachers, think
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