Fr. Scott A. Haynes In the Gospels there are two accounts of Christ multiplying loaves and fishes: the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000. Why two accounts? What is the difference between them? The obvious answer: 1,000. All joking aside, there is a salient difference—location. As they say in real estate, what matters is, location, location, location. The feeding of the 5,000 took place near Bethsaida, close to the Sea of Galilee. In contrast, the feeding of th

Learn the Biblical wisdom of avoiding gossip, slander, and backbiting. St. Monica explains.

Fr. Scott Haynes Among the most mysterious images in the Book of Revelation is the vision of the two witnesses: "These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, that stand before the Lord of the earth." (Revelation 11:4) At first glance, the imagery appears obscure. Yet St. John expects his readers to recognize it immediately. He is drawing upon the vision of the prophet Zechariah, where two olive trees continually supply oil to a golden lampstand. The Old Testament p

Fr. Scott Haynes A Scriptural Study 4 kings 24:8-17 Psalm 78 Matthew 7:21-29 As we listen to these passages from the Fourth Book of Kings, Psalm 78, and the Gospel according to St. Matthew, the Lord places before us two houses: Jerusalem, fallen into ruin, and the house built firmly upon rock. In the first reading, Jerusalem falls. The Temple of the Lord is plundered. The gold vessels made by Solomon are broken and carried away. The king, his mother, the nobles, the soldier

Fr. Scott Haynes A Meditation on the Introit of the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost Julius Caesar once remarked that even the shouts of his enemies were music to his ears, but, on the other hand, he was terribly afraid of thunder. When it vaguely looked like a storm was brewing, he began to shiver and shake and crawl underneath the covers. Peter the Great, considered by many to have been the greatest czar of Russia, was terrified to cross a bridge. He would tremble in his b