Weekly Reflections (Page 10)

College students are back in the classroom now that a new academic term has begun—but this year some of them will be tempted to take advantage of a new form of cheating previously unavailable: using A.I., or artificial intelligence. Programs such as Chat GPT are now capable of writing term or research papers on virtually any subject imaginable, using correct grammar and including a bibliography and reference notes (though there’s evidence that sometimes Chat GPT will itself cheat by completely fabricating…

About seventy years ago there was a boy named Eugene Orowitz—a skinny, unimposing 100 pound high school student who seemingly had nothing going for him. One day in gym class the track instructor taught the boys how to throw a javelin, which is a sort of spear. All the other students tried hurling it; the longest throw was 30 yards. Then it was Eugene’s turn. Some of the kids taunted him:  “Hey, stupid, can you lift it? Careful, don’t stab yourself”—but they were…

Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18) What is quite intriguing is the fact that Jesus gives to each one of you, lay people, the authority which he had given to Peter and to the other 10 and, consequently, to bishops and priests ever since. (Matthew 16:19 and John 20:23) First, this means that, in Christ, heaven and earth are…

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#954) describes the three states of the Church: “When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more, and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. [the Church Militant] Others have died and are being purified [the Church Suffering], while still others are in glory, contemplating ‘in full light, God himself triune and one,…

The final verses of the Gospel of Luke (24:46-53) describe Jesus’ ascension. From the perspective of the disciples, it was the end of their course, semester, and training with the Master. And these were the final points Jesus wanted them to remember: first, that He came to suffer; second, that He rose from the dead on the third day; third, that they should preach repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, to all nations; and fourth, that they should “Stay in…

I urge you, brothers, and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1) Hmmm. This is unusual. Why not our souls? Why not our hearts?  First, we should try to divest ourselves of our Western mentality of conceiving body and soul as being the lone two components of a human being and somewhat in opposition to and in tension with each other. And secondly, we should think of body the way the Bible sees it,…

The first message we glean from our first reading (Isaiah 22:19-23) and Gospel passage (Matthew 16:13-20) on this 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time is about solidity. It is conveyed by the image of a peg holding things together: “I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot.” (Isaiah 22:23) And also by the new name given to Simon by Jesus: Rock, Kephas in the original Aramaic, petra in Greek and Latin, is rendered by its masculine form, Petrus, and the English form Peter.  The concept of solidity becomes…

During a 1962 press conference, President John F. Kennedy commented on the plight of American reservists who continued to be held on active duty after the Berlin Crisis had subsided. At one point, he noted: “Life is unfair.” Tragically, just one year later, on November 22, 1963, this young American president was gone. Americans will forever remember his death as a tragic example of unfairness. In my classroom, when the topic turns to fairness, I enjoy asking students questions like these: Is it fair that…

To make some sense of the troubling gospel passage (Matthew 15: 21-28) given us for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, let me submit to you a probable scenario. It is necessary lest we certainly find Jesus’ conduct and words to that Canaanite woman totally shocking.  Here is the scenario that I propose. Jesus is walking somewhere in Galilee and his twelve, full-blooded Israelite disciples are some abreast with him and the rest within earshot. As full-blooded Israelites, they are…

The readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time should help us avoid crossing over from Christian self-confidence into narcissism and rampant self-importance. For a long time, Elijah had such a high degree of self-confidence that, empowered by God, he could singlehandedly hold his ground against Ahab, the King of Israel and his most influential wife, Queen Jezebel. Against all odds, Elijah had foiled their evil schemes and served Yahweh God most faithfully. But when Jezebel swore that she would not rest…

In the 2004 movie, Millions, seven-year-old Damian Cunningham, following the death of his mother, sets out with his father and older brother to establish a new life. A pious and prayerful Catholic school boy, Damian has a fondness for the lives of the saints and an equally powerful zeal for serving the poor. Set within a fictional period when the Bank of England was converting to the Euro (they didn’t), Damian is seen playing outside one day when a bag of…

The Catholic Church might be the only Church who makes a big deal out of the Transfiguration; such a big deal that she celebrates this feast twice each year: on the second Sunday of Lent and on August 6th. For the Catholic Church it is a big deal because of the intimate union of Jesus with all of us in his Mystical Body. The destiny of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Body, is the destiny of his Body as well.…