How does one possibly “reflect” on the life and pontificate of Pope Saint John Paul II in just a few pages? I dare say it is easy to give a list of his earthly “achievements” as Pope, as I will do later in the reflection,­ but one can never truly know fully the depth of a human person, because we are limited, finite creatures and only the Infinite, Omnipotent Creator can truly see into the…

What an extraordinary burden the Shema must seem to be for those who still see their freedom as being at battle against God’s will. How in the world could you possibly bring yourself to fulfill such a commandment without believing that what God desires and has planned for you is going to bring you fulfillment? It is, in fact, an impossible task. If you have given God 100% of your heart, mind, soul, and strength,…

Before putting out into the deep of God’s Word and what He might be speaking to our hearts today, we need to do a little housekeeping about the actual text in front of us. The word translated as ‘roadside’ at the beginning of the Gospel is exactly the same word in the original as the word translated ‘way’ at the end. St Mark did not use synonyms (when he certainly could have). Even if the…