In Yann Martel’s wonderful novel Life of Pi, twelve-year-old Pi decides to explore a number of different religions in his native India. He has a rather remarkable reflection on a conversation he had with a Roman Catholic priest, Father Martin, about the crucifixion. Pi thinks to himself: “That a god should put up with adversity,…

The structure of Mark’s Gospel, from which this week’s reading comes, is like a mountain. As we go up one side, we hear about the ministry of Jesus; the miracles, the healings, the feeding of thousands, the calling of the disciples. The top of the mountain is Peter’s declaration, “You are the Christ,” the first…

It is inevitable that in a political season the topics of conversation will eventually include “family values.” There is probably no more essential image in our common life. And yet, little time is spent on defining the words, “family” or “values.” The assumption is that our common life has given us a set of principles…

In today’s Gospel, Jesus very clearly issues a challenge and call to discipleship in verses 34 to 36. When Jesus called His disciples, He said, “Come, follow me” and they obeyed. We find no indication the disciples questioned how much time would be involved, how much would they be paid, what would the expectations of…