On the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 2015, the Church began celebrating a Holy Year of Mercy, also known as a Jubilee. During this time, many devout people emphasize the spiritual side of life by making a jubilee pilgrimage to a holy site. Jubilee years mark a …

At one point during Jesus’ ministry, the mother of James and John makes a power play, asking Jesus to allow her two sons to sit at Jesus’ right and left when his kingdom comes. You can read an account of this in the Gospel According to Matthew 20:20–28 (NABRE). In …

Did the Blessed Virgin Mary consider herself to be God’s slave or to be God’s servant? As we approach the Advent season, we’re reminded of the Blessed Virgin’s famous statement: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” from the …

One of the more amusing translation issues in the New Testament appears in the Letter to the Philippians 3:8 (NABRE), in which Paul writes: “More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have …

How is hospitality related to love? The Letter to the Hebrews concludes by going through a moral section that outlines the moral consequences of not following through on the earlier messages in the book. In the Letter to the Hebrews 13:1–2 (NABRE) we encounter an interesting word choice in regard to …

One essential characteristic of the story of Jesus’ birth is that Mary was a virgin. In reading the account from the Gospel According to Luke, this truth becomes apparent, though there is on occasion some debate based on confusion about parthenos, the Greek word that’s translated as “virgin.” Opponents of the …

What does the Church mean by the phrase “economy of grace,” sometimes also referred to as the divine economy? In the Letter to the Ephesians 3:2 (NABRE), Paul writes to the early Christian community: “You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for their …

What does it mean to blaspheme or to commit blasphemy? One of the most difficult passages in the New Testament is the Gospel According to Luke 12:10 (NABRE): “Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit …

In the Gospel According to Luke 8:19 (NABRE), among other passages, we see mention of Jesus’ brothers. The exact translation of these passages is important because of the Catholic belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. The Greek word used here is ἀδελφός (adelphos), literally meaning “from the same womb.” If …

The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 13:4–8 (NABRE) contains Paul’s familiar description of love that is heard at weddings around the world.The passage begins with a Greek word for love, ἀγάπη (agape), followed by a number of different verbs, laying out a list of characteristics of love that show …