As a young adult of nineteen—just a few years older than the high school students I teach—Augustine had his first conversion on his pilgrimage towards Christianity. As Augustine recounts in his Confessions, the catalyst for his first conversion was, famously, his reading of Cicero’s Hortensius. A pagan’s apologia for philosophy
Honeysuckle symbolizes the bonds of love. Jesus’ commandment to love one another carries with it the expectation that his disciples will show reciprocity toward each other when feeling and expressing love for each other. They will help each other by behaving in the same way or by giving each other
Jen Krausz, Bethlehem, PA Warm-up Question Have you or anyone in your family ever donated blood? What was the reasoning behind this act? Home Crisis The American Red Cross announced on January 11 that because U.S. blood supplies are at extremely low levels the country is facing an unprecedented blood
Mural of Coretta Scott King at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta. Photo: Steve Beard. By Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) – Throughout the epic freedom struggle of African Americans, our great sustainer of hope has been the power of prayer. We prayed for deliverance in a
As we seek to understand the Old Testament this year, there is no shortage of angst. Yes, the scriptures may be gateways to living water, but the Old Testament is deep water—with a lurking Leviathan no less! Deep learning, like consecrated discipleship, sounds like an all-or-nothing thing. Apparently, dabbling in
Today’s daf introduces the subject of tzara’at, the biblical skin affliction often translated as leprosy. If one found a suspect blemish on one’s body, the priests were to evaluate it to decide if the person was in one of four categories: 1) pure and free to go about everyday life;
It is a fact that theologians and theology departments in Catholic institutions of higher education struggle to justify their existences before their colleagues and before the world. Many a genealogy has been written to trace the blame for our dire circumstances. What follows below is not another one. Instead, I
Honeysuckle symbolizes the bonds of love. In his last two verses of his description of the nature of agape, or Christ love, in his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul lists several positive qualities or characteristics. The first of these qualities or characteristics is that love never gives