All Episodes
Wheat, Wine, and Oil
The BBC recently reported that "the share of the world's wealth owned by the richest 1% increased from 44% in 2009 to 48%" in 2015 and that "on current trends, Oxfam.....
What’s More Important?
What is the purpose of St. Paul’s discussion of gender and marriage in 1 Corinthians? Why is he seemingly ambivalent about the status of Roman slaves? On what basis do...
Interview with Dr. Mary Youssef
Dr. Mary Youssef is Associate Professor of Arabic Literature in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at Binghamton University. Her research areas inclu...
Cloud of Witnesses
Is each generation an improvement on the previous one? Are people living today the apex of human progress? In practical terms, most of us intuit the problems of wester...
Who's Your Daddy?
When people think of meaningful passages in the Bible, the many lengthy genealogies found in Genesis and elsewhere rarely, if ever, come to mind. Yet, it is exactly on...
Playing All Sides
In this week's episode, Richard explores the Lord's counter-intuitive stance in Ezekiel, in which judgement falls on all sides and no human being finds favor in God's ...
The Apostle Paul's Book Club
Does it matter which book of the Bible you read or which testament it comes from? Where should beginners start? Are some books more important than others? What is the ...
Society of Biblical Literature
This week, Richard talks about his presentation at the Society of Biblical Literature gathering in San Diego, where he explored the various ways in which the study of ...
The Dead Shall Hear the Voice of God and Live
Preachers often adapt themes from popular books and movies to make their sermons seem relevant for children and teens. But what happens when the content of the Bible i...
Torah to the Gentiles
Richard interviews Fr. Marc about his new book, Torah to the Gentiles. The letter to the Galatians offers a brief but demanding exposition of the teaching of the Older...
I, Paul
In a culture that thrives on positive messages and expects praise from everyone for just about everything, it is easy to assume that St. Paul's use of praise in his le...
Do Not Feed Thyself
Richard and Fr. Marc continue their discussion of the biblical functions "shepherd" and "sheep," exploring these roles in context of Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel's critique exp...
Ezekiel 33: Double or Nothing
Do our good deeds count for anything? Is there a difference between a wicked person and a person who behaves correctly most of the time? What does it mean to be a chil...
It's All About the Shepherd
In this week's episode, Richard and Fr. Marc discuss the parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15 and the importance of hearing the Bible in its proper historical context....
O How the Mighty Have Fallen
Time travel, alien tyrants, world domination, epic battles, post-apocalyptic cities, sudden drought, unnatural trees reaching above the clouds...despite what you are t...
Lamentations
The book of Lamentations offers a series of poetic reflections on the destruction of Jerusalem. Abandoned by God, hungry, homeless, and bereft of hope, once a queen am...
Richard Goes to OCF
What is the purpose of campus ministry? What do we hope for our youth? What do we expect of them as they enter adulthood? In a contemporary setting, where campus minis...
Whose wife or whose son?
A parable, like a short story, has a beginning, a plot, a set of characters, a complete thought, and an ending. With such a clear, simple structure, its tempting to ta...
Happily Ever After?
In this week's episode, Richard and Fr. Marc reflect on the parable of the wedding feast in the gospel of Matthew. When the host's invitations are rejected by his woul...
Out of Egypt
What does the nation Egypt represent in the Bible? When Scripture mentions Egypt, Assyria, or any country, is it talking about historical empires, or is something more...
Are You Rich?
This week, Fr. Marc and Richard reflect on the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19. Why was it wrong for the young man to call Jesus "good?" Beyond the obvious p...
Live from St. Cloud
In this week's episode, Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the way in which St. Paul uses the categories "weak" and "strong" to undermine human judgment in 1 Corinthians. Th...
Not Before the Time
What is the biblical response to poverty, violence and suffering in the world? How does the biblical commandment to love the neighbor differ from progressive ideas of ...
Stay as You Are
In this week’s episode, Fr. Marc and Richard discuss the painful but critical role that slavery and hierarchy play in St. Paul’s epistles. Reflecting on the same teach...
(#29 Republished) Our Daily Bread
Fr. Marc interviews Richard about a sermon he recently presented on Matthew 14:14-22 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18. Richard explains how in both readings, the American obs...
(#28 Republished) Jesus Goes to High School
According to a 2014 study published by the National Education Association, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. In many cases, the ex...
Our Daily Bread
Fr. Marc interviews Richard about a sermon he recently presented on Matthew 14:14-22 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18. Richard explains how in both readings, the American obs...
Jesus Goes to High School
According to a 2014 study published by the National Education Association, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying. In many cases, the ex...