Jesus Unloads His Seven Woes on the Pharisees and Us – His Opening Salvo (Matthew 23). “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ throne as the authorized interpreters of the Law. So listen and follow what they teach, but don’t do what they do, …
Each Brain has a Mind of Its Own – The Multiple Intelligences Theory. “It’s not how smart you are, it’s how you are smart.” (Dr. Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind). Imagine this scene… You are with your family and close friends for your traditional Thanksgiving meal, and you proceed to place only three chairs around the long dining …
Why Should Schools Be Unplugged? A Brief Summary. “People will come to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think… It wasn’t long ago that we thought television would be the magic fix in education… and now we have the computer.” (Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death). After having the educational establishment fall in love …
Flannery O’Connor and Her Pithy Paragraphs. “What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is a cross.” (Flannery O’Connor). Brief Bio. Mary Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925, and died from kidney failure in 1964 at 39 years of age. During …
Flannery O’Connor: The Queen of the One-Liners. “All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it.” (Flannery O’Connor). Brief Bio. Mary Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1925, and died from kidney failure in 1964 at 39 years of age. During her brief but productive …
Resurrecting St. Patrick – His Breastplate Prayer. “I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation…” (the 1st verse of what is known as “St. Patrick’s Breastplate”). The Deer’s Cry. This famous prayer of praise and protection is …
Resurrecting St. Patrick – His Humility and Courage. ‘If I have done anything good for my God whom I love, I beseech Him to grant me that with these new believers and those in captivity I may pour out my blood for His name, even if my body should be denied burial, and be miserably …
Resurrecting St. Patrick – His Faith in the Promises. “I declare in truth and with joy in my heart – before God and His holy angels – that I have never had any motive in my work except preaching the good news and its promises. That is the only reason I returned to Ireland – …
Resurrecting St. Patrick – His Personality and Passion. “In the Gospel story, the passionate, the outsized, the out-of-control have a better shot at seizing heaven than the contained, the calculating, and those of whom this world approves. Patrick seems to have been attracted to the same kind of oddball, off-center personalities that attracted Jesus, and …
Resurrecting St. Patrick – His Shrewdness and Imagination. “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Jesus’ word to His disciples in Matthew 10:16, which could have easily been said to St. Patrick in Ireland). St. Patrick’s Timetable (all these dates and ages are approximate …
Resurrecting St. Patrick – His Dreams and Visions. “Laugh and make fun of me if you want to – I will not keep quiet, nor will I hide the signs and wonderful things that God has revealed to me many years before they actually happened.” (Patrick, from his Confession). St. Patrick’s Timetable (all these dates and ages are approximate …
Resurrecting St. Patrick – A Brief Bio. “I declare in truth and with joy in my heart – before God and His holy angels – that I have never had any motive in my work except preaching the good news and its promises. That is the only reason I returned to Ireland – a place …