Imago Trinitatis

St. Francis preaching to the Sultan Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021719.cfm (Audio at the bottom of this post) “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain.”   If you think about it, St. Paul is saying something very true here in the second reading.   As Catholics, we don’t simply believe that Jesus was a great moral teacher or good man to follow, but we’re saying that He is the Son of God who has resurrected from the dead.   If it turns out that Jesus really didn’t rise from the dead, then what are we doing here?   Why would we live in this way that’s so counter-cultural to what our world says is important?   Even though it’s not Easter yet, I believe it’s important for us to often be reminded of this central truth of Christianity, that because Jesus rose from the dead, we will all rise from the dead in him through our faith.   And yet I know that sometimes it’s hard to believe: we all need to be reminded at times of t...

Nazareth Night at the Seminary Nazareth Night is a monthly night of prayer for young adults that we have at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, and I preached at it for this month.  While it applies specifically to the night, I hope that it can also apply to all of us, no matter where we are.  I combined the Gospels from last Sunday and this Sunday (Luke 4:16-30). Jesus comes to Nazareth.  Nazareth – this small village where Jesus was raised by Joseph and Mary for close to 30 years.  Apparently the residents there weren’t expecting Jesus to be the Messiah.  They saw his carpentry skills, probably saw him as a good man, but in these Gospel readings from last week and this week, there’s something new, as Jesus proclaims that he has received the Holy Spirit.  In fact, it infuriates them to realize that they aren’t the center of his plans, and the crazy thing is that we never see Jesus return to Nazareth again in the Gospels.  But here we are, at Nazareth ...