The Scriptures speak of God in human terms. In a figurative way, they attribute to God our human feelings and bodily characteristics. One of the strongest statements of human emotion attributed to God comes at the time of Noah and the Flood.

Voltaire used a sword that cut both ways when he sardonically quipped, “If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor” (Notebooks, c.1750). Even a casual reading of the Bible would seem to bear him out. In Sacred Scripture, God appears all too human. The examples are many. A few will suffice to make the point.

The Pantheon stands at the center of Rome. It is one of the most ancient buildings left to us by the Roman Empire. It is a tribute to the genius of the ancient Romans and today a witness to the faith of the Christian world. The Pantheon was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple in honor of all the gods worshiped by the Romans.

On Sunday May 2, 2010, Pope Benedict joined the thousands of pilgrims who are now visiting the Shroud of Turin. For the first time since the Jubilee year of 2000, the Shroud has been placed on display from April 10 until May 23, 2010. Already two million people have reserved their three to five minutes to view what is perhaps the most intriguing “relic” of the Passion.

Mark Twain once said, “Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” With this tongue-in-cheek remark, he expressed the truth that, when someone is good, their goodness challenges us to do better. Such is the case of Barnabas, companion of St. Paul and cousin of St. Mark.

The ancient Greeks had some profound sayings about human friendship. Aristotle defined friendship as “one soul dwelling in two bodies.” Plato spoke of the practical consequences of this ideal. He said, “Friends have all things in common.”

A few weeks ago on Good Friday, nearly 2,000 people crowded the city streets of Paterson. With great devotion, they reenacted the Way of the Cross. Their public act of faith could not go unnoticed. A local newspaper reported the event. However, the newspaper numbered the crowd at 200 people. A mere mathematical mistake?

Following a White House tradition that goes back to Franklin Roosevelt, President Obama signed the 2010 health care reform bill with twenty-one pens. He then gave twenty of them away to those who worked hard to pass the new legislation.

With the stroke of a pen on March 23, 2010, the Affordable Health Care for America Act became law. The debate over health care in America has raged for almost a year. The stakes have been high. Nearly $400 million have been spent just in lobbying by drug companies, hospitals, health care providers and Planned Parenthood.

The Via Sacra was the main street of ancient Rome. It passed through some of the most important pagan temples in the Forum. Located at the highest point of this road stands the Arch of Titus. This monument commemorates the triumphal procession of Titus into Rome after his conquest of Judaea in 70 A.D.

Within forty years of Jesus’ death, Jerusalem lay in ruins. The Roman army led by the future Emperor Titus, lay siege to the Holy City and utterly destroyed it. Buildings crumbled to the ground. Cedar roofs turned to ashes. Like a volcano gone wild, the heights of Jerusalem spewed deadly fumes.

The Stoic philosophers Seneca and Epictetus taught others to be immune to misfortune. They promoted apatheia (apathy). Stoic apathy basically meant keeping calm and composed when faced with the highs and lows of life. To be virtuous was to be indifferent to constant change.

On the southern slope of Mt. Parnassus rising high above the Gulf of Corinth stands the ancient shrine of Delphi. Dedicated to Apollo, this sanctuary was the most important place of pilgrimage for Greeks in the ancient world. A recent study of inscriptions at Delphi has shed some light about the role of women in the first century

In the first century, Jerusalem was one of the largest cities between Alexandria in Egypt and Damascus in Syria. Herod the Great had ushered in the city’s renaissance with his vast building projects. He reorganized the city’s serpentine streets into a paved grid. He built himself a palace with luxury bedrooms for 100 guests. In the midst of the crowded city, his palace was a walled resort.

In the late 1800’s, Dr. John Geddi went as a missionary to the South Pacific. For twenty four years, he worked on the island of Aneityum. When he left, the indigenous people put up a monument in his memory. On it were inscribed these words: “When he landed, in 1848, there were no Christians.

The on-going debate about health care reform in the halls of Congress, on talk shows and around the kitchen table has focused attention on the increased inability of more and more families to provide even the basic care for their families. Housing, food and education all cost more today.

Standing seven stories high and covering 1,700 square feet, Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment draws visitors to the Sistine Chapel up into a vision of what lies ahead for all of humanity. Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism all teach about this final judgment.