Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Although I am not Roman Catholic, I feel like the Pope is in some sense “my” Pope.   Of course I don’t think the Pope is my Pope in the same sense as a Catholic must see the Pope as his or her Pope.   I know quite a bit about Catholicism and I hang out with a fairly substantial group of Catholics.   I am a lay Benedictine monk, which means I am free to participate with the Benedictine monks in their life and worship.   I am grateful for everything the Catholic community has given to me.             But I am still not a real Catholic in the sense that someone must be if he or she is actually a full member of the Church.   And I recognize the Pope is the Head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, has a special relationship with all those who are full members of that Church.   But to see the Pope in that role is to have a too narrow view of the Papal Presence in our world.     ...

The story of Thomas, as we find it in the New Testament, has always been one of my favorites.   Today is the feast day for Thomas, so I bumped again into the story.   If you are not familiar with the story, let me share it.   We find it in John’s Gospel.   The time frame for it comes after the resurrection of Jesus.   The resurrected Jesus was in Jerusalem on Sunday evening appearing to some of the gathered disciples.   As it turns out, Thomas was not with them.   When Thomas comes, the disciples told him they had seen the resurrected Jesus.    Thomas’ reply is classic.   He says, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (20:25)   With these words Thomas expresses what so many of us surely would have exclaimed.   I can certainly sympathize with Thomas.   After all, Jesus had been his friend.   His friend had been horri...

Recently I read a great opening line and now cannot even remember where it was.   But I do remember the gist of the line.   I think the line was used about Roman Catholics, but it really applies to all traditions and, certainly all denominations.   The author said there were three kinds of believers: the devout, those who doubt and those on their way out!   I certainly know some Quakers who fit all three categories.   I am confident I can come up with names of Catholic friends in all three.   And clearly in Judaism and, likely, every other major group, there is membership in all categories.            I suppose in our now secular age, we could add a fourth category, namely, those who were never in.   But they really don’t count, since they are not wrestling with the issues of faith, belief, membership, etc.   Or if they are wrestling with it, it is not in the context of the church or synagogue. ...

Recently Pope Francis willingly made himself available for a rather extended interview that was then published.   People are always interested in what the Pope thinks and what he has to say.   And Pope Francis is certainly generating quite a bit of interest as folks try to figure out the direction of his papacy.   Since the Pope hails from Argentina, people think he is going to be different than most of his European predecessors.   Probably only an American Pope would generate more interest.             I also was interested in reading the entire transcript of the interview.   Everyone is becoming aware the Pope has some pet issues, which is not unusual for any important person.   The Pope clearly has a deep concern for social issues, particularly justice issues.   He has been speaking openly about the Church’s need to tend to the poor among us.   It seems clear the Pope has a special conce...

Although I am not Roman Catholic, I feel like the Pope is in some sense “my” Pope.  Of course I don’t think the Pope is my Pope in the same sense as a Catholic must see the Pope as his or her Pope.  I know quite a bit about Catholicism and I hang out with a fairly substantial group of Catholics.  I am a lay Benedictine monk, which means I am free to participate with the Benedictine monks in their life and worship.  I am grateful for everything the Catholic community has given to me. But I am still not a real Catholic in the sense that someone must be if he or she is actually a full member of the Church.  And I recognize the Pope is the Head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, has a special relationship with all those who are full members of that Church.  But to see the Pope in that role is to have a too narrow view of the Papal Presence in our world. I am convinced the Pope is also more than Catholic.  In many instances the Pope speaks to the en...

The story of Thomas, as we find it in the New Testament, has always been one of my favorites.   Today is the feast day for Thomas, so I bumped again into the story.   If you are not familiar with the story, let me share it.   We find it in John’s Gospel.   The time frame for it comes after the resurrection of Jesus.   The resurrected Jesus was in Jerusalem on Sunday evening appearing to some of the gathered disciples.   As it turns out, Thomas was not with them.   When Thomas comes, the disciples told him they had seen the resurrected Jesus.   Thomas’ reply is classic.   He says, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (20:25)   With these words Thomas expresses what so many of us surely would have exclaimed.   I can certainly sympathize with Thomas.   After all, Jesus had been his friend.   His friend had been horribly ...