In his Letter to the Romans 8:29 (NABRE), Paul provides a powerful statement about God’s plan for humanity that he culminates with the familiar: “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” This phrase speaks to the omnipotence of God’s plan, and …

In the Letter to the Romans 8:26 (NABRE), Paul describes the role of the Holy Spirit in prayer when he writes, “for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” The phrase inexpressible groanings seems a bit odd and not …

The Letter to the Romans 8:20 (NABRE) contains an elegant description of the state of fallen humanity that characterizes creation as being made “subject to futility.” The word here translated as futility also sometimes is translated as vanity, and it carries significant shades of meaning. The Greek word ματαιότης (mataiotes) …

The Gospel According to Matthew 11:25–30 (NABRE) contains Jesus’ frequently quoted promise to give rest to humanity. Rest is an important concept in both the Old and New Testaments. When we think of rest, however, it can mean a number of things. What exactly is it that Jesus is promising …

In the Gospel According to Matthew 10:37 (NABRE), Jesus makes a bold statement about love that is easy to misconstrue. The statement is: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” …

What does it mean to kill the body but not the soul? Jesus draws a distinction between death and destruction in this week’s liturgy, where we encounter the Gospel According to Matthew 10:28 (NABRE): “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; …

In this week’s reading from the Gospel According to Matthew 10:1-2 (NABRE), Jesus sends out his 12 main followers without him, and the text shifts from calling them disciples to calling them apostles. This is an important shift in role and responsibility that has considerable bearing on what it means …

In the Gospel According to John 14:15–21 (NABRE), we encounter Jesus’ well-known description of the Holy Spirit as an Advocate, Paraclete, or helper. This view of the Holy Spirit is essential to the Evangelist’s view of the role of the third person of the Most Holy Trinity, so it’s worthwhile …

In the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE), Jesus uses fairly abstract language to describe his relationship to the Father and the place he’s creating for his followers. Due to that abstraction, there’s one extremely significant parallel that’s easy to miss. In the Gospel According to John …

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 …