One of the great promises of Christianity is the forgiveness of sins. The Old Testament offered a stay of judgment through the sacrifice of animals in various rites all designed to delay or to defer the death that results from sin. The animal would serve as a substitute for the …

The Gospel According to Luke 24:13–35 (NABRE) records the familiar story of the two disciples on who meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus. There are several hints in the text that suggest this encounter is a precursor to the Mass. It happens on the first day of the week, …

The Gospel According to John 20:19–31 (NABRE) focuses on issues of faith and trust in the well-known context of the disciple Thomas’ doubt and pathway to belief. Jesus calls all Christians also to believe, and we well might ask what that belief looks like. The Greek word πίστις (pistis) is translated …

This week we celebrate Holy Week, which includes the Triduum services on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and finally Easter. In this three-day celebration (from a Jewish point of view, evening Thursday is considered Friday), we walk through Jesus’ last conversation with his followers, his Passion, death, and Resurrection. Because of …

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion is described in an account from the Gospel According to Matthew. Much of the Christian focus around this feast is on the timing of the Passover, but from a Jewish point of view, the Passover is only a part of the larger eight-day feast. …

The eleventh chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE) contains the account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This event serves as the culmination of the signs Jesus performs in the Fourth Gospel, and it serves as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own Resurrection. The Gospel According to …

The ninth chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE) contains themes of light and darkness, seeing and blindness, and the interrelationship of those elements. Congenital blindness appears in the readings as a metaphor for the human condition, and Jesus’ healing of the blind man represents the healing he came …

The fourth chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE) includes a description of the encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at a well. One of the more interesting interpretation questions in this text concerns the correct translation of when this all occurs. The Gospel According to John 4:6 …

Transfiguration and transubstantiation are two words with the same prefix. Both describe religious mysteries that are difficult for us to understand. The Transfiguration of Jesus occurs on a mountain where Moses and Elijah also put in appearances. There are a couple of related words deriving from Latin that are especially …

The book of Genesis 2:7–9 (NABRE) contains an account of the Creation of the first person. In this account, God forms man out of clay and breathes into him as the means of giving him life. This passage is tremendously significant from a theological perspective, and much has been written …