Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
In the early hours of the resurrection appearances on the first Easter Sunday news began to be circulated that Jesus was alive and had been seen. These reports were, at first disbelieved or at least doubted by the apostles. Various reports from both women and men were dismissed by the apostles. But suddenly in the …
This Blog post is a follow-up from yesterday’s blog. When we encounter the resurrection accounts in the New Testament we face a challenge in putting all the pieces together in a way that the sequence of the events flow in logical order. This is due to the fact that no one Gospel presents all, or …
Continue reading “A Chronological Sequence of the Resurrection Appearances”
When we read the various accounts of the Resurrection in the four Gospels, Acts and Pauline Epistles we can easily be puzzled by some apparent discrepancies in the details. The word “apparent” is important because some who wish to cast doubt on the historicity of the Resurrection often wish to make more of these differences …
Continue reading “Making Sense of the Resurrection Accounts: Are there Discrepancies?”
Reviewing Lent With my apologies to the Marine Corps and their excellent “Earned-Never Given” motto, I want to share the Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom. You may wonder if I am breezing by the passion and death to get to the resurrection. I offer the homily now because this is the time in which in …
One of the things that I have discovered that very few people are neutral on is the image of Christ seated in Judgment on the apse wall of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. (See photo at right). People either love it or hate it. Those who hate …
Continue reading “Awesome or Awful? Studying the”Christ in Majesty”Mosaic at the National Basilica”
One of the bigger mistakes people make in reading Scripture is that they read it as a spectator. For them Scripture is a collection of stories and events that took place thousands of years ago. True enough, we are reading historical accounts. But, truth be told these ancient stories are our stories. We are in …
Continue reading “One Hundred Questions that Jesus Asked and YOU must answer.”
The well known story of the Lazarus and the Rich Man was read at Mass yesterday morning. At one level the story seems plain enough: to neglect the poor is a damnable sin. But there are other important teachings contained in this Gospel, teachings about death, judgment, heaven and hell. They are hidden in the details …
Continue reading “Learning the Lessons of Lazarus and the Rich Man”
In the secular world a mystery is something which baffles or eludes understanding, something which lies hidden or undisclosed. Now the usual attitude of the world toward mystery is to resolve it, get to the bottom of or uncover it. Mysteries must be overcome! The riddle or “who-done-it” must be solved. In the religious world …