Mercy Frees the Heart

“Mercy Frees the Heart”
A reflection on Sirach 27:30-28:7 and Matthew 18:21-35
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
©️2023 Gloria M. Chang

Wrath and anger, these also are abominations,
yet a sinner holds on to them. 

The vengeful will face the Lord’s vengeance;
indeed he remembers their sins in detail.

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God Made All Things Good

Peter’s vision of a sheet with animals, from Acts 10; illustration from Henry Davenport Northrop, “Treasures of the Bible,” published 1894.

5th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday (Year I)

Genesis 1:20—2:4a; Mark 7:1-13

Then God said: Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: tame animals, crawling things, and every kind of wild animal.

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Beyond Descartes

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time (Year I)

Hebrews 4:1-5, 11; Mark 2:1-12

The aim of the Christian life may be expressed in many ways: union with God, communion in the Trinity, deification (theosis), the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, returning to the Father’s house (the heavenly Jerusalem), or in the words of the author of Hebrews, entering into God’s Sabbath “rest.”… Read the rest

The Finger of God

Parts of P.Oxy. LII 3679, 3rd century, containing fragments of Plato’s Republic.

27th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday (Year II)

Luke 11:15-26

Suppose there was a perfectly just man. Would he be loved, ignored, or hated?

Plato proposed a thought experiment around 360 B.C.… Read the rest

Trinitarian Cosmos

Slavic icon of creation

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Isaiah 55:10-11; Romans 8:18-23; Mattthew 13:1-23

Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.Read the rest

Letting Go

Our Lady of Guadalupe

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Matthew 10:37-42

Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.Read the rest