Last week, this week, and next week our first reading comes from the Book of Proverbs, one of the books of Wisdom literature in the Old Testament. Wisdom in ancient Israel and early Judaism included at least six important elements: knowledge, imagination, discipline, piety, order, and moral instruction. According to...

There is no doubt about it. Our Gospel reading for today is a challenging one. It is the only story we have in Mark of Jesus denying healing to someone who asks for it. And not only does he at first deny the healing of the Syrophoenician’s daughter, a child,...

The letter of James, the book our second reading for today came from, has not always gotten good press. The line that usually gets James into trouble is not from our reading for today but in the next chapter: “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”...