“The force be with you.”  No, God is far from an impersonal force.  The doctrine of the Trinity shows us just how personal and interpersonal, God really is.

The Trinity has always been a difficult doctrine to swallow. First of all, there is this statement from the Old Testament: “The Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below, and there is no other” [Deut 4:4].

Hilary of Poitiers, commenting on Psalm 65,  describes new Christians feeling inundated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit as by a mighty river when they received the sacraments of initiation: baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist . . . a sense of joy and the release of the 7 gifts and charisms of the Spirit, including prophecy and healing. Such experience appears to have been normal and expected in the Church 4th century Gaul (now France).

Christ's Ascension represents his triumphal entry into the heavenly Jerusalem, his coronation as King and the  inauguration of the Kingdom or Reign of God in the power of the Spirit.  He no longer wears a crown of thorns, but one of glory, reigning in power.  From the throne to which he ascends he pours out gifts - virtues and charisms too numerous to count.

This sermon by Augustine, originally delivered on the Solemnity of the Ascension, notes that we, the members of Christ's body, ascended to heaven with the Lord through love.

6 minute podcast providing an overview of the strategic and spiritual importance of Jerusalem, and why it is called the city of David

David, Israel's greatest king, was born in Bethlehem.  It is in some places called the city of David, though it was, in the time of David and Jesus, only a small town of a few hundred people.

Augustine on the new commandment of divine love – charity or agape – given by Jesus in the last supper discourse of the Gospel of John. Such love is impossible for human beings without the help of grace — it is a gift & one of the three theological virtues.

This classic Paschal or Easter Sermon is from Saint John Chrysostom, fifth century early church father and one of the greatest preachers of all time. This homily for Holy Pascha exhorts all, even those who have not kept the Lenten fast, to rejoice and enter into the Easter feast of the resurrection.

This resurrection sermon by St. Maximus of Turin hits on many of the same themes and images of the Exultet Hymn that is sung every year in the Easter vigil of the Roman liturgy proclaiming “Christ, our light, our endless day, is risen!” 

Cleopas and his unnamed companion were dejected as they made their way along the road to Emmaus.  Their encounter with a stranger who rebuilds their faith and gives them hope to recognize him in the breaking of the bread - this illustrates for us what the Eucharist is really about.

This podcast on the passion of Jesus was originally written as a commentary on the scripture readings for Palm Sunday but makes for a great read anytime during the Lenten Season, especially Holy Week.   The suffering and death of  Christ reveals the depths of sin and the intensity of divine love.