The year of St. Paul ends with the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29th, 2009. I think this year has been a tremendous gift for the Church, if only to draw considered attention to the man Paul and the many facets of his ministry. Certainly in my diocese, that of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the year has been marked by numerous talks, lecture series, concerts and even a one man play. This represents only the events held at the Cathedral, not the many smaller offerings found at local parishes. I am certain that even apart from major events in Rome, and Pope Benedict XVI’s many homilies and lectures which filte

Brothers and sisters:
As you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse,
knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you,
may you excel in this gracious act also (2 Cor. 8:7).

What is this gracious act of which Paul speaks? I am having a difficult time concentrating, as I hope to be able to announce soon that I have been chosen to star in a new reality series on a major television network - or at least one of those networks you find in the 200s or 300s on DirecTV - in which the foibles, fears and desires of a 21st century Catholic theologian is put on display for mass consumption. Everyone wants to join that newly identifiable group,

There is a common theme running through the readings for the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist, Mass during the day, and that is your purpose and mine. I know that Isaiah 49:1-6 pertains directly to God's servant Isaiah (technically, I suppose, this is Deutero-Isaiah, but who names their kid Deutero-Isaiah?), later understood in a spiritual sense to refer to Jesus (especially v.6 which is applied to Jesus by Simeon in Luke 2:32), that Acts 13:22-26 concerns specifically John the Baptist and Jesus, and their unique and divine missions, and that Luke 1:57-66, 80 speaks of John the Baptist and his coming ministry of repentance, which will prepare the way for Jesus. These are irre