What does it mean to worship and serve God in heaven? What does heaven look like and what will we be doing if we make it there? In the seventh chapter of the book of Revelation (NABRE), we see a great multitude before the throne of God. What exactly this …

Why would Jesus distinguish between philia and agape when asking Peter about love? The Gospel According to John 21:15–19 (NABRE) contains one of the most interesting translation issues in the whole of Scripture, the discussion between Jesus and Peter as they talk back and forth about the notion of love. What …

The Gospel According to John 8:1–11 (NABRE) highlights sin and consequence in the account of the woman taken in adultery. The Jewish leaders have found a sinful woman whom they are using as a trap for Jesus. He can either endorse carrying out the law and get in trouble with …

Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians 5:17–21 (NABRE) looks at the work of Christ as one of reconciliation. Due to the common Church contexts in which we hear this word and its association with the sacrament of Confession, it’s easy to begin to see this as a removing of sin …

What’s indicated by the letters YHWH in reference to God? In the book of Exodus 3:14 (NABRE), God tells Moses his name: “I am who I am.” God’s name in future Hebrew literature derives from this statement. The exact pronunciation and meaning of this name is uncertain, though it very …

The Gospel According to Luke 9:28–36 (NABRE) depicts Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain and his conversation with Moses and Elijah, who describe Jesus’ coming Passion, death, and Resurrection as his exodus. This description calls us to connect this act of Jesus with the Exodus of the Old Testament, though at …

In the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites are asked upon entering the Promised Land to give back to God the first of the fruits of the land as a sign of their indebtedness to God. This sign then also becomes a perpetual obligation, though it’s possible to see how the …

The First Letter to the Corinthians 15:54–58 (NABRE) highlights the victory won by Christ over death and our share in it. Paul uses the image of the corrupt being clothed with incorruptibility and the mortal being clothed with immortality. While the notion of immortality is essential to the Christian message, …

The Gospel According to Luke 6:27–38 (NABRE) looks at the golden rule, which focuses on the relationship between wanting and doing. “Do to others as you would have them do to you” is a statement we frequently hear, perhaps so often that some of the emphasis is dulled. While typical …

The word beatitude is synonymous with the word “blessed.” In the Beatitudes in the Gospel According to Luke 6:20–26 (NABRE), we encounter Jesus describing the conditions that need to be met in order for a person to be blessed. The idea of being blessed is common to Christianity, so much …