The Acts of the Apostles 7:51 (NABRE) contains the end of the speech in which Stephen, one of the first deacons of the Church, accuses the Jews of being uncircumcised in heart and ears. Circumcision is the sign by which a man is marked as a participant in the Old …

In the third chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE), we encounter Jesus’ famous interaction with the Pharisee, Nicodemus. In this encounter between the two, Jesus emphasizes the need for being born from above, sometimes translated as “born again” or “born anew.” There’s little consistency among popular English translations …

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? In this week’s readings from the eighth chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE), Jesus talks to the Jews who believed in him about freedom. This passage contains a fascinating suggestion about what it means to believe in Jesus. In a previous column, …

The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord commemorates the angel Gabriel announcing to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is to conceive. This feast celebrates one of the great Christian mysteries, the announcement of the Incarnation, God becoming human. The readings also show us the response of Mary and …

The “Our Father,” also known as the Lord’s Prayer, is found in the Gospel According to Matthew 7:9–15 (NABRE). What’s especially interesting about the Greek version of this prayer is that it contains in both Matthew’s and Luke’s versions a hapax legomenon, a word that is used only once. The word in the …

In the tenth chapter of the Gospel According to Mark (NABRE), we encounter Jesus’ talk about marriage. Included is this odd line in the Gospel According to Mark 10:9 (NABRE): “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” This translation comes about by trying to translate a …

In the Gospel According to Mark 7:1–13 (NABRE), some Pharisees and scribes criticize Jesus because his followers eat meals with unclean hands. This concept of uncleanliness goes back to Jewish purity laws, which were a hot-button issue in Jesus’ day. Especially controversial is what seems to be Jesus’ disregard for Jewish religious …

The First Letter of John describes perfect love—both its conditions and its benefits. This letter portrays perfect love as the Christian ideal and the goal toward which all Christians must strive. The concept, however, has become diluted due to the deterioration in meaning of the word perfect. What does it …

In reference to the light described in the prologue of the Gospel According to John, what does it mean that the darkness did not overtake it? In both the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) and translations of the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE and RSV2CE), the Gospel According …

The difference between Israel and Judah confuses many people when they read the Old Testament. The Book of Jeremiah 23:5–8 (NABRE) calls attention to a linguistic peculiarity in the Scriptures. The word Israel in the Old and New Testaments can have at least four distinct meanings depending on context. How …