Of all the documents to have come out of Vatican II, Dei Verbum (The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) is one of my favorites. Continue »

There had been a flurry of activity—bread multiplied, storms calmed, and people healed. There had also been ominous confrontations with the more closed-minded members of Israel’s religious leadership. Plus, Jesus’ cousin and forerunner, John, had recently been executed by Herod. Everything, it seems, was coming to a head. Continue »

All modern cars have their horsepower regulated by a computer chip. This chip sets the amount of oxygen that mixes with the fuel. A mixture that is richer in fuel produces a higher horsepower than a mixture that has less fuel and more oxygen. Continue »

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6) Continue »

By any account, 590 was a disastrous year in Rome. Plague had struck, sweeping through the homes of poor and wealthy alike. Even the pope was carried away by the fearsome disease. The spring floods were the worst in memory; the Tiber broke through its retaining walls, causing enormous damage. Continue »

When I first stumbled across the term lectio divina (literally, "sacred reading"), I imagined elderly monks sequestered in a quiet room, silently poring over medieval manuscripts, as sunlight streamed through stained-glass windows and illuminated the pages they were turning. It seemed something that would remain far from my experience. Continue »

One of my favorite things to do is to walk along the seashore and think about God. Watching the waves relentlessly crash against the shore and gently recede, gazing out over the immense expanse of water and imagining what lies under the deep—this is almost a prayer in itself. Continue »