17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Grant Macaskill’s reflection on neurodiversity becomes a stimulus to renewal of faith.

They both resist easy answers to the problem of suffering.

Sometimes we can sing in perfected harmony, but there is still something disturbing about our song.

There are some matters that a well-rehearsed and repeated Bible verse won’t fix.

And that conversation’s inevitable limits

The people come, bringing something of themselves. Then they leave.

In God's kingdom, sometimes less is more.

I was counting on her discretion.

The left/right/center narrative helps us avoid difficult work.

We can be joined by our suffering, not just separated.

I mostly agree with Jeffrey Weiss about prayer. I think St. Paul would too.

The gig seemed fairly routine. Then I saw the parrots.

And what would happen if we didn't?

If the church is the bride of Christ, then Jesus is married to both Rachel and Leah—to the church he wants, and to the church he has to take.

I have come to realize how mysterious a thing a seed is.

I’ve been thinking often over the last few days and weeks about the last three verses of the magnificent eighth chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.

To be a follower of the one who promised that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed is to expect a blessed in-breaking of peace.

The Prodigal Son is often read to mean that God loves sinners, whereas the Jews thought God only loved the righteous. This makes no sense.

Growing in prayer is not simply acquiring a set of special spiritual skills. It is growing into Christian humanity.