Indeed all that glitters is not gold, and where did this gold medal come from anyway? Well it was not from the original Greek Olympics, whose first place prize which was not a gold medal but a laurel wreath.  These crowns of flowers are splendidly beautiful today, but they are gone tomorrow—a wise reminder that…

We are a mystery to ourselves.  Neither science nor Google can deal with mysteries, but praise God, the Armenian Church does. The Armenian Church says that you are a mystery to yourself, so stop trying to grasp yourself from other things, people, even God.  Instead, start trying to give yourself away to other things, people…

In case you prefer a modern illustration of an anxious journey to the promised land, you may know that we just flew to Armenia and back two days ago. The journey was almost thirty hours each way and there was complaining.  ‘Yuck, I can’t eat this food.’ ‘Hey get your legs out of my space.’…

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.  Perhaps Paul’s dogged perseverance in his faith, his suffering through beatings and imprisonment, travelling the known world over to share the news of Christ, was part of this blessing.  Faith sees best in the dark, and in order to overcome distance from…

Fr. Richard Rohr, a Catholic spiritual writer and Franciscan monk, tells a powerful story about father’s day from his first days in prison ministry; work he would continue for 15 years. He recalls the first time that mothers’ day came around, how the inmates were all eager to write a letter back home to mom.…

Today’s Gospel reading could make a fine episode of Law & Order, and framing it in this way reveals something profound about our quest for righteousness in this world.  The first part of today’s reading is all about the law, specifically God’s fourth law to keep the Sabbath holy.  It says that God’s people are…

So there is nothing new about identity theft, it is as old as humankind.  In fact, Jesus warns us about identity theft-of the deepest kind- it today’s assigned reading from the Gospel of John.  There are many thieves and imposters in this life, Jesus warns us, who will not only steal your stuff, but try…