Jesus says a number of very provocative and memorable things in today's passage from the Sermon on the Mount.  We find freedom in understanding that Jesus is calling us to cultivate a healthy respect for our brothers and sisters.

We are set free when we understand that the people in our life are not objects to be manipulated but persons of inestimable worth in the sight of God.

The Sermon on the Mount, over the Sundays leading up to Lent, will help us to attain a sense of freedom as Christians.  Are you ready to pep up the flavor of this world?

Consider the drama of the Christ Child entering the place that was understood to be the unique dwelling place of God on earth.

I remember now that at Epiphany, January 5, which somehow did not get recorded, I simply read a column of Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ.  I'll try to point you toward a transcript of that column.

"Has Christ been divided?"  Rips in the fabric of Christianity go back to the time of St. Paul.  We consider the absolute need for Christians to be woven back together.