As we come once more to the Christmas mystery, we can appreciate St. Joseph more deeply through the Year of Joseph now concluding. The...

Why do Catholics venerate the saints? It is a common question for those who are unfamiliar with devotions and statues, medals and icons....

The previous entry spoke of Joseph’s “chaste love” for Mary and Jesus in categories that go beyond the physical manifestations of love...

Pope Francis cites a book by the Polish writer Jan Dobraczynski, The Shadow of the Father, telling Joseph’s story in the form of a novel....

LIII. Beyond the wine that is the fruit of the vine, as seen at Cana, Jesus also gives Himself the title of the True Vine. This too has...

LII. A second image used by John is the combination of the vine and its product, wine. While bread and oil are also common Old Testament...

Matthew 13:55 says of Jesus: “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” The work translated as carpenter is tekton in Greek, which can designate...

LI. The Pope next explores the principal images used by John’s Gospel. First is water, the primordial element of life. Water can be a...

L. The Pope provides some insight into the underlying structures of John’s Gospel – overarching themes that situate the particular...

XLIX. To call John’s Gospel historical does not mean that every word of Jesus’ discourses is presented as an accurate and word-for-word...

XLVIII. Later and more objective study finds John’s Gospel rooted in actual events, even if told in a unique style by John. It is evident...

XLVII. In Chapter Eight of Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict turns to John’s Gospel. Most of what he has presented thus far is from the...

XLVI. As noted, several of the Psalms wrestle with the injustice we encounter in a fallen world: that those who rely on earthly wealth...

Pope Francis uses the phrase “creative courage” to describe Joseph’s trusting obedience. By this he means that while Joseph was presented...

XLV. Pope Benedict next considers a third major parable in Luke: the Rich Man and Lazarus. Here too the story is well known to us, with...

XLIV. Pope Benedict now turns to the older brother in the “Prodigal Son” story, or again, better labeled “The Parable of the Two...

XLIII. Continuing with the parable of the Two Brothers, the younger son “went into himself,” Luke says, and comes to his senses in a kind...

XLII. Pope Benedict next takes us through Luke’s parable of the Prodigal Son. So familiar is this story that the mere title calls to mind...

St. Matthew is clear that Mary’s unexpected pregnancy deeply troubled Joseph. Perhaps it seemed like a betrayal by one he thought he knew...

XLI. Pope Benedict looks at the Good Samaritan parable from a variety of lenses. One interpretation is moral – an examination of...