In the book of Leviticus 19:2 (NABRE), the LORD commands Moses to say to the Israelites: “Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.” This passage raises the important question of what holiness means and what it looks like. The Hebrew word used in this passage, qadowsh, at its …

In the Gospel According to Matthew 5:21–48 (NABRE), Jesus reviews Old Testament teaching and reinterprets it in a new context. Throughout this passage, Jesus follows a similar form: “You have heard that it was said…”. This form is especially interesting in Greek for being unusual. The phrase translated as it was said …

The Gospel According to Matthew 5:13 (NABRE) offers a difficult issue for translators. The tricky part falls in the section I think is best translated as “If salt becomes insipid, in what respect will it be salted?” The word I translated as insipid is from the Greek verb μωραίνω (moraino). …

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? The Beatitudes challenge us in the Gospel reading from this Sunday. While both the Gospel According to Matthew and the Gospel According to Luke contain beatitudes, a difference in emphasis is noticeable between the two—beginning with the first beatitude in which the Gospel According …

In the Gospel According to John 1:32 (RSVCE), the evangelist John reports of Jesus that “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him.” In this context, the word heaven has multiple meanings, and based on common English usage in a religious context, it’s …

I had the pleasure of celebrating the recent Christmas liturgy at Conception Abbey, as is my family’s tradition. One thing that was different this year was that different vestments were used for much of the liturgy. These vestments prominently feature the letters IHS, and I was reminded that many may …

What is an apocalypse? As the liturgical year winds to a close, liturgical readings focus on the final book of the New Testament, considered the great scriptural model of apocalyptic literature and sometimes called The Apocalypse. The book of Revelation gets its name following the ancient tradition of using the …

A regular topic for catechesis about the Catholic faith is an explanation of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit as found in the Book of Isaiah 11:1–3 (NABRE). Much has been said and written about these gifts, but there often still arises a significant amount of confusion about one—the fear …

On September 10, 2016, Abbot Gregory Polan, O.S.B., of Conception Abbey in northeast Missouri—a place close to the heart of Turning to God’s Word —was elected Abbot Primate by the Congress of Abbots of the 1,500-year-old Benedictine Order. As leader of the Benedictine Confederation, Abbot Gregory will be the unifying …

In the Gospel According to Luke 16:1–13, (NABRE), Jesus presents a parable about stewardship. The word that the evangelist uses for stewardship, οἰκονομία (oikonomia) is a complex Greek word that defies simple translation. Looking with more detail into this word and its usage can give us a fuller and richer …