This is the third of eleven reflections on Thomas Merton’s teaching on the True Self/False Self dynamic. This conflictual but enlightening relationship permeates Merton’s huge quantity of writing on the spiritual life. The basic point of the conflict is the individual’s pull toward a...

Mt 17:1-9 Dear Friends, Lent is a time to prepare to celebrate the Death and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ with new joy, stronger faith and growing love. This is the great mystery of our faith and that opens the mystery of our life.Today’s gospel passage focuses on the Transfiguration. This same celebration of the Transfiguration takes place in all three Lenten cycles. It obviously has a special message for our communal Lenten journey. Our task is to let it truly enlighten us as we prepare our basic Lenten task: to embrace the great act of love that is the...

Mt 4:1-11 Dear Friends, One of the many blessings of Vatican II was a return to the importance of the Word of God in the Bible. This led to a deeper appreciation of the Old Testament. In turn, we have learned the dependence of the New Testament, and particularly the Gospels, on the Jewish Scriptures.Today’s temptation stories are rooted in the universal challenge of sin in the human heart. Here we find sin flowing steadily from the disoriented appetites, the ever-present pride and the excessive pull of vanities and self-importance. Mattew’s portrayal of the tem...

The Bible is a love story of God and his people. While it is simple and clear there are also problematic issues because this love absorbs human frailty and sin covering centuries.
The creation accounts in Genesis are written in their own symbolic and narrative style. They contain complex insights about the hum...

Mt. 5:17-37 Dear Friends, In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is inviting us to totally change our value system. He is calling us to a conversion that embraces his gospel vision. He is insisting that we go deeper into life to experience the presence of God in our relationships and responsibilities. He is laying fourth the great gift of the Jewish law and teachings free from the burden of human compromise and distortion. It is a pathway into God’s wisdom and truth. It is a true guide in the darkness of our broken world.Matthew is emphatic that Jesus is not breaking...