Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. (Rv 3:20) Perhaps you have seen the painting Jesus Knocking at the Door of Our Hearts by the English Victorian artist William Holman Hunt […]

Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here immediately and take your place at table”? Would he not rather say to him, “Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and […]

The master then ordered the servant, “Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled” (Lk 14:23). Luke sets before us the vision of a great dinner, an image of the messianic banquet in the coming kingdom of God. One by one, the invited guests excuse […]

You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the […]

After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. (Lk 11:37-38) The invitation to dine in the home of a prominent Pharisee was a milestone in […]

The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:41-42). It is a constant source of amazement in families how children born of the same […]

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:1-3). Chapter 18 of Matthew’s Gospel is […]

All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the LORD who proves hearts. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. (Prv 21:2-3) A footnote in the Revised New American Bible says, “Heart and eyes depict, respectively, the inner and […]

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. (1 […]