A Psychologist looks at Scripture

Send us Fan Mail The lesson for us is not to get alarmed if we have periods of doubt or question aspects of our faith.  As pointed out, these are signs of an adult faith.  I invite you to see doubts as an invitation to explore, to be curious, to question and be motivated to resolve the doubt.  The sad part is that so many people just hold the tension and do little or nothing with their doubts.  So...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s edition focuses on the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.  This is only recorded direct episode of Jesus interacting with John the Baptist.  To give you some context, John was inviting people to the Jordan River for a spiritual cleansing.  This spiritual cleansing has been referred to as Baptism.  John the Baptist was not the first to use this model of using water to wa...

Send us Fan Mail This Gospel speaks about the days after the birth of Jesus.  What should have been a joyous event has a very dark layer behind it.  In this account we have the Magi coming to acknowledge the birth of a king.  On this note I encourage my listeners to check out the editions of this podcast published on December 29, 2024, and December 30, 2023, where I speak about the Wisemen and the...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s Gospel we hear of another dream that Joesph had.  If you are joining us for the first time, I urge you to listen to last weeks podcast edition where I speak about the dreams that Joseph had.  I also recommend that you listen to the December 17th edition published in 2023 where I speak about Joseph’s mission.  Today   I want to speak about the dream that Joseph has.  In...

Send us Fan Mail In this podcast today I will be focusing on the dreams that Joseph had.  We don’t have much else on St. Joseph.  We don’t hear much about him after the birth of Jesus.  He is mentioned in the story of the finding in the temple when Jesus was 12 years old but that is it.  We learn that Joseph was a dreamer. There are four dreams recorded, outlining what   Joseph experienced.   In M...

Send us Fan Mail John was the Hearld of the Messiah.  His role was simple, increase the awareness of the people of the coming Messiah.  In the Gospel of John 3:30, John the Baptist says, "He must increase, but I must decrease," referring to Jesus Christ. This expresses John's understanding that his own role and influence were meant to diminish as Jesus' ministry and prominence...

Send us Fan Mail I focus on information from the Scriptures and try to figure out what likely was the back story.  I will attempt to explain more in detail as we unpack the life of John the Baptist.  I am very careful in using tradition and historical context to gain insight into biblical times.  Often tradition may have a political agenda and may not always be factual.  For example, Christian tra...

Send us Fan Mail I recognize that staying alert can be exhausting at times and there may be times when taking a break would be appropriate.  I highly recommend developing skills to reflect on our lives when we might not have been as alert as we needed to be.  Retreats, Devotions such as the Daily Examination of conscience, a prayerful reflection developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola may be helpful....

Send us Fan Mail This Gospel describes some of the last moments of the life of Jesus on Earth.  The Gospel seems more appropriate for Lent and Easter.  Jesus says very little.  He is dying on the cross, he is dismissed by the leaders who are responsible for his death.  The most interesting conversation is between the two condemned men who are being crucified with Jesus.  We do not know what their...

Send us Fan Mail Jesus warns us that we will be betrayed not just by anyone but by people who are close to us, family members.  Experiencing betrayal is unfortunately more common than we would like.  Being betrayed by those who are close to us is especially hurtful.  Betrayal undermines our ability to trust.  Have you ever experienced betrayal? Betrayal is a prevalent theme in the Gospels.  From t...

Send us Fan Mail Todays Gospel  is quite different from most others.  In this Gospel we have Jesus aggressively driving the money changes and sellers out of the temple.  At first glance it is quite different from Jesus’ usual way.  There are no immediate teachings, healings or witty dialogue.  It is clear that Jesus is passionate about his faith, and he is not willing to compromise.  Professor Dav...

Send us Fan Mail There are three stories in the Gospels where Jesus raises someone from the dead.  We have the story of Lazarus being raised (John 11:38-44), Jarius’ 12-year-old daughter being raised as recorded in (Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40 and Matthew 9:18-26) and now in today’s Gospel we hear about Jesus raising the son of a widow in a town called Nain.  What is interesting in this Gospel is how...

Send us Fan Mail So, we overhear the prayers of two very different men.  One man, the Pharisees has done a lot and includes what he has done in a list expecting I guess to impress God.  He was doing okay until he compared himself to the tax collector.  The second man, the Tax collector has said little but admits to his wrongdoing and is truly sorry.  It must have come as a shock to the first liste...

Send us Fan Mail In the Gospel of Luke 18:6-8 Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray always.  He uses a short parable of a woman seeking justice from a corrupt judge.  The woman successfully hassles the judge, wearing him down to finally getting the justice she was seeking.  Jesus makes the interesting point that how much more will God grant what we ask if only we remain steadfast in our prayers....

Send us Fan Mail In today’s Gospel we read about a healing, specifically the healing of ten people with leprosy.  Although this account is about people getting healed of a dreaded disease it is  what happens after the healing that is most significant.  Let’s take a step back to help put this Gospel in perspective.  Leprosy or now known as Hansen’s Disease was a dreaded disease back in biblical tim...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s Gospel Jesus is asked by his disciples on how to increase their faith.  It looks like the disciples are finally understanding the ministry of Jesus.  Remember the story of the rich young man found in Matthew 19:16 who asks Jesus what does he need to do to inherit eternal life?  It was a fair question but where is the focus?   The rich young man was focussed on getting w...

Send us Fan Mail In today’s Gospel, Jesus shares a profoundly interesting parable. I would like to examine it further and in detail.  In the parable, Jesus introduces the rich man, we do not know his name, but he wears purple, the color of royalty and feasts, not just on special holidays but every day.  We then learn about Lazarus, a poor man.  Unlike the rich man, Lazarus has a name.  We would ex...

Send us Fan Mail Today's Gospel highlights the importance of consistency and faithfulness, even in the small things. I find Jesus’ teaching about serving two masters particularly thought-provoking. Often, it feels like we have more than two masters competing for our time and energy. From my perspective, many people drift away from their faith not out of rejection of God, but because other res...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s Gospel from John focusses on a conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus.  To give you some important background information, Nicodemus was a Pharisee.  Scripture scholars remind us that despite the negative portrayal of Pharisees in the Gospels not all the Pharisees were against Jesus.  Yes, there was a small group that were against Jesus and looked for every opportunity to d...

Send us Fan Mail For someone not familiar with Jesus’ style of teaching this Gospel would be shocking.  I suspect the Gospel would be shocking for the first listeners. It completely contradicts the 5th commandment about honouring one’s parents Exodus 20:12.  While there are no actual scriptural references from Jesus there are Gospel references of Jesus showing love to his parents. In Luke 2:48-51,...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s Gospel begins with Jesus accepting an invitation to dine with one of the leading Pharisees. During this gathering, Jesus shares a teaching inspired by His observations that challenges the conventional understanding of social status. He emphasizes a reversal of worldly status through humility. But what exactly did Jesus mean by humility? Complete our 1 Minute Survey

Send us Fan Mail Luke’s Gospel is very typical of Jesus style.  We have read events where Jesus takes an accepted view, custom, or perception and reinterprets into something different.  Often when Jesus is asked a question, he invites the questioner into a deeper meaning.  What exactly did Jesus mean when he talks about the narrow gate.  Let’s look further.  Jesus asks if many will be saved.  Like...

Send us Fan Mail This passage might seem surprising—even unsettling. Here, we don’t see the serene, peaceful Jesus, but instead a passionate figure intensely devoted to his mission and faith. I believe Jesus is speaking metaphorically when he refers to fire—using it to symbolize the fervor and intensity he expects in our faith lives. He was not passionate about a lukewarm faith. In Revelation 3:14...

Send us Fan Mail In this Gospel we learn that the Father is pleased to give you the kingdom, this is incredible!  The kingdom is given, not earned but a free gift.   This is not the only such reference,  in Luke 13:29 we read that "people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God,".  Jesus says this before his death a...

Send us Fan Mail We have someone asking Jesus to help settle his case, to judge the merits of an inheritance dispute.  Jesus does not take the bait and makes it clear to the individual that he is not here to judge.  This is a valuable reminder to people who so often see God as one who judges and punishes.  Jesus is very clear about his role.   Jesus tells a parable of a man with a bountiful harves...