Jewish High Priest at the Ark of the Covenant
So, today we are going to discover what makes a priest high! I bet that got your attention.
Seriously, the whole notion of a high priest is so foreign to we egalitarian Americans and moderns. We are centuries removed from a time when hierarchy and royalty were…
Listen to this from St. John Chrysostom: "Upon leaving the house one should without fail say, 'I renounce you, Satan, your pomp and service, and I enter into Your service, O Christ.'" It's so radical in its insistence that we actually take seriously the reality of the spiritual warfare and the power in a focused…
"What's my motivation?" It's the question every actor has to ask when they are trying to get into character. What motivates this person to do what he does? Why is this person reacting this way to this situation? And the reason this is so important to an actor is because if you can understand someone's…
Our busy lives really do challenge us in keeping our priorities in the right order, don't they? We moderns are a complicated mishmash of schedules, opportunities, affluence, and "freedom." And that multiplication of events, desires, hopes, and advertisements don't seem to be slowing down. It seems that each new day brings a new barrage of…
It's IMPOSSIBLE to get this Stuff through that Narrow Way!
"It's impossible, tell the sun to leave the sky, it's just impossible. It's impossible, ask a baby not to cry, it's just impossible..." OK, that's my best Perry Como. Wait, you don't know who Perry Como is? What are you, some kind of alien?
Seriously, I…
Leaving footsteps to follow in!
"I'm their leader; which way did they go?" I feel like that a lot as a parish priest. Truth is sometimes it's like herding cats to be the leader of a parish community. It seems everyone has their own agenda or vision of "how things ought to go." And, rarely, is…
"How are you today?" It's a common question we ask all the time. And I confess it was a polite greeting I was asking just to be polite. But then she gave me the answer that communicated volumes to me about her. She replied "I'm blessed!' A beautiful smile, a lilt in her voice, and…
Do you love me?
"But I don't want to!" My 5 year old simply didn't want to go to school that day. She didn't want to, and that fact alone should have released her from her obligation to attend class that day. "I don't want to!" Imagine her surprise when her father, the mean ogre forcing…
Which road is the right road?
How can you tell if a relationship is healthy or not? All of us wonder about that from time to time, and it's natural to wonder.
But the truth is we are all on a journey in life and, unless we stop now and again and assess where we are,…
Need a little Help? That's the way it's suppose to be!
OK, I know this will be controversial, and I admit to being torn about this, but The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers album "may" be my favorite Beatles album (It's in competition with the "White album"). And one of my favorite songs is "With a Little Help…