Hy-per-bo-le (noun) “exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.” More detail is given in the words from the Thesaurus.com including: amplification, exaggeration, overkill, embellishment and (in poetry) purple prose. Today’s Gospel of Mark employs hyperbole, as do other areas of the Bible particularly when Jesus teaches His disciples. In Matthew (5:30) Jesus says: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea

In our Catholic Christian faith, corporal works of mercy are a “big thing.” Jesus not only spoke about service, or corporal works of mercy, He actually did them—giving new meaning to “actions speak louder than words.” In fact, the mission and ministry of Jesus came to be known as “the Suffering Servant” by Scripture scholars and Christ Himself said, “Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (MT: 30:28, MK 10:45 and John 13:1-7)

K-10 begin on Sunday, September 16th at Henry James Memorial School,9:30-10:30 am. Confirmation I & II Classes at HJMS begin at 9:15 am and end at 10:30 am. The evening classes meet at the church, Confirmation I (Grade 9) from 6 pm-7:15 pm and Confirmation II (Grade 10) from 7:15 pm-8:30 pm. Class lists will be posted on our website the first week of September.

What a timely question for today’s secular culture and for our Church. This weekend’s readings speak to the interrelationship between morality and truth and our lived lives—as well as the building block of Truth and its inherent limitations. If something is an absolute truth, it is by its definition, limited in scope. A truth cannot be multiple things or be comprised of different hues of truth. Specifically, let us look to the second reading from the Letter of James where we hear that “All good living and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.”