On the 5th Sunday of Easter, as a Community of Faith, today we go over Jesus’ farewell speech, the words he spoke the night before his death (John 14: 1-12). They are words of comfort, among the best ever spoken by a friend to his friends. But they...
One of the greatest movies ever made was Cecile B. DeMille’s 1956 epic The Ten Commandments, with the actor Yul Brynner portraying the Egyptian Pharaoh, and the native Michigander Charlton Heston as Moses. Heston’s deep and melodious voice was...
As I have pointed out many times before, there is a basic difference between faith and religion. In a nutshell: people of religion spend their life looking for a Deity who is convenient and who can grant them what they request of him according to...
There was a famous American painter over 100 years ago named John Singer Sargent. He spent much of his life in London, England; there he became famous for painting flattering and heroic-looking portraits of important figures in English society...
On October 24, 1993, a large advertising agency launched one of the most influential advertising campaigns of all time. Its client was the California Milk Processor Board. With the use of just two words (Got Milk?) and images of numerous celebrities...
The longest-serving Pope in the Church’s almost 2000-year history was Pius IX, who reigned for almost 32 years, from 1846-1878. It was he who solemnly defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception: namely, that Mary was conceived in her mother’s...
Several centuries ago there was a famous painting showing a young man playing chess with the devil—a game in which the young man’s soul was at stake. Every chess piece on the board was clearly visible in the painting, and it portrayed the instant...
In the Gospel of Luke (5:1-11), Jesus turns to Simon Peter and says: “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” In reply, he speaks for himself and the other disciples: “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing...
