We are seated on faded plastic chairs perched on the dirt floor of a one-room corrugated tin home. It belongs to Ovalia, a forty-three-year-old Guatemalan woman who is expecting her ninth child. Her face is lined, her hands rough. Her eyes are weary, but they seem to shine with an inner light. Continue »

Fire and division—two powerful images packed into one brief passage of scripture. Sometimes, it can be difficult not to question God’s compassion when he speaks to us through such dark images! Continue »

Leprosy was a dreaded disease in biblical times. Besides suffering physical disability and disfigurement, a person afflicted with leprosy was considered ritually unclean and was forbidden to come into contact with people who were healthy (Leviticus 13:45-46). Segregated from society, those suffering from leprosy lived on the outskirts of towns and begged for alms, relying on charity for their survival. Continue »

Most of the gospel readings for Sundays are taken from the Gospel of Luke. In his gospel, and in his Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke loves to tell stories about how God empowers people to experience a deep conversion—to repent of their sins, change their lives, and believe in Jesus Christ. Continue »

Paul’s distress over the state of the Galatians is evident in these impassioned words. However, while Paul had become exasperated with the Galatians, he did not walk away from them. Continue »

I remember well the years immediately after the Second Vatican Council. The second half of the 1960s was an interesting time to be a Catholic—to say the least. One never knew what to expect next. Continue »