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Several years ago, there was a story in the news about a family in a small town in Florida.  It consisted of a father, a mother, and two young sons.  They were normal family, except for one problem.  Both boys had AIDS.  Both boys contracted the virus through a blood transfusion.  Their presence in the public school was bitterly resisted by other parents, whose children attended that same school.  One night, under suspicious circumstances, the family’s house burned to the ground.  Finally, they were forced to move to another town.  They had been  rejected by their own community. Some people […]

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “there are varieties of gifts, varieties of ministries, varieties of effects.” What St. Paul is telling us is that unity among us does not mean sameness. Such was certainly not the case with the early disciples.  There were differences,   disagreement, and disputes among them.  And one of the most beautiful things about the New Testament is its honesty.  There is no attempt at covering up. When James and John were arguing over who should have first place in the Kingdom of God, the Gospel reports it just as it happened.  When Paul and Barnabas […]

All of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments. We have heard about them all of our lives. Many of us could recite most of them from memory. They are the moral and ethical foundation upon which our society is based. Without them, it would be impossible for people to live together in peace and harmony. But there is another set of laws that are even more basic than the Ten Commandments. We could call these the “Twin Commandments”. They too are found in the gospels. The first is a quotation from the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament: […]

If one is to believe the statistical charts and reports so commonly quoted today, a single conclusion is inescapable: the disciples of Jesus are not inning the world, they are losing it! Now mind you, I said, “If one is to believe the statistical charts ….” for quite frankly, figures can be quoted, twisted, used, or misused to prove virtually anything.  It is never easy to know just how reliable or accurate any survey is, at least not until you know the background and bias of the agency or individual responsible for it. But without quoting any specific numbers or […]

What is God’s intention for families?  What part does God mean families to play in human life?  Only when we understand what God has revealed about the family can we hope to find solutions to the problems families face today.  The clearest statement of God’s plan for our family is the one that comes right at the beginning of the Bible in the account of the creation of man.  We often miss the point of this account.  Living as we do in a highly individualistic society, we’re used to thinking of humanity as a mass of individuals.  Consequently we read […]