Lament. It has a ring of sadness to it. It should since it is expressing sorrow or regret over something. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral Mass was yesterday. People are still lamenting his death and will for some time to come. The literary world is lamenting the...
During Lent we remember, in the spirit of Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, that we have dwelt, are dwelling, and will dwell “in the shelter of the Most High” (v. 1a). We also remember that we have abided, are abiding, and will “abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (v....
On the hillside of a dome-shaped ledge in lower Galilee facing the Valley of Jezreel some 11 miles southwest of the modern day city of Tiberias, Jesus is “transfigured.” Literally it is a “metamorphosis.” There, on Mount Tabor, which is the traditional site of His transformation,...
Right in the middle of Paul’s exhortation on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1-31 and 14:1-40, a word is offered that is more important than all the gifts combined: Love. First Corinthians 13 has been called “The Love Hymn.” Verses 1-3 point out that without love spiritual gifts are useless. Verses 4-7 define the...
The discussion of spiritual gifts continues in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31as Paul speaks of the connectedness of the church as the body of Christ. For the first time, chronologically, in the New Testament the metaphor of “the body” is used to portray the church. Dating to the early fifth...
The church is a gifted community. Paul affirms this in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. First Corinthians is addressed to the troubled church in Corinth partly because those believers have a few questions for the Apostle. One concerns “spiritual gifts” (v. 1). A better translation would be “spiritual things”...