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We have the unusual pairing of God appearing to Elijah on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19) with Christ walking on water (Matthew 14). Why the pairing? God commands Elijah to ‘go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ He soon discovers that God is not in the form of a mighty wind, an earthquake, a fire. No, rather God is in ‘a voice of silence.’ Too many translations weaken the expression into ‘a still, small voice of silence,’ something that can do no harm. But it must stan

St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) realised – from a very young age – that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. So convinced of this truth, that he set about documenting 136 Eucharistic miracles throughout the history of the Church. What is a Eucharistic miracle? The Church has taught, teaches and will continue to teach that when Christ said of the bread he held in his hands at the Last Supper, ‘This is my Body,’ that he meant what he said. The bread became, becomes, wil

The Lord comes to Solomon in a dream and asks him what he desires. Solomon responds: Give your servant a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil, for who could govern this people of yours that is so great? (1 Kings 3). Solomon is prudent, not prudish. The former comes from the Latin providens, meaning ‘seeing ahead.’ The latter from the French, meaning ‘shocked by someone’s behaviour.’ We need prudent men and women in every age, but especially now with the c

You: ‘I don’t know how to pray.’ Me: ‘Of course you don’t.’ You: ‘Seriously, I can’t pray.’ Me: Relax. Let Paul direct you: The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words (Romans 8). We are good people, but weak. Take this magnificent passage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offe

Matthew has five great discourses. Chapter 13 is number three. It is ‘chock-a-block’ with parables. In my opinion, the ‘Parable of all Parables’ is the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9), with its allegorical interpretation in Matthew 13:18-23. Brendan Byrne, Lifting the Burden (2004), wants us to be more perceptive and receptive: Where does the seed fall? What is the reception and response to the seed? What are the three failures and the three gains? The evil on

In the midst of the widespread rejection of his message, Jesus prays to his Father: I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth (Matthew 11). Jesus calls his Father ‘Abba.’ Jewish names for God include Lord, King, Shepherd, Rock, Fortress, Father. George T. Montague alerts us to something most important: The Talmud says that when a baby first begins to speak, his first words are Amma and Abba, both titles of intimacy by which he addresses his ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy.’ The fi