Author Archives: mikedenz

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. Genesis 3:1 The serpent being referred to here is Satan.  This is the first time Satan is mentioned in the Bible and the one thing God tells us about him is that he is very subtle. Now, someContinue reading “More Subtle…”

Who doesn’t like good news? When someone comes home and says, “I have good news!”, don’t you just feel a little better right away, before you even hear what the good news is? Then there are the times when we are in church. At Mass the same phrase is used: “Good News”. Sometimes it isContinue reading “So, What’s the Good News?”

Grandpa Joe stopped by his daughter’s house one winter evening to visit with the family. He had brought a lollipop to give to his granddaughter, 4-year-old Zoe. Grandpa Joe sat down on the couch, smiled at Zoe and said hello. Zoe stood by her mom, clutching her leg tightly. Grandpa said he had a surpriseContinue reading “Trust”

I searched for the word “taught” in the four gospels. I wanted to see how many times the gospels said Jesus taught. I found it used in this way a total of seventeen times: And he opened his mouth and taught them. –Matthew 5:2 He taught them as one who had authority. –Matthew 7:9 AndContinue reading “And He Taught…”

I’m the kind of guy who gets attached to things. I don’t like change (unless it’s the change of seasons). I grew up in a house in Elma, NY that my parents built in the 1950’s. The youngest of six, I spent every Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthday in that house. Just 8 years after gettingContinue reading “Immediately they Left…”

When I was working toward my master’s degree at Franciscan University of Steubenville I was blessed to be on the university’s RCIA Team.  This meant that I, along with several other graduate students, assisted the RCIA Director with the meetings we had for the people who wanted to come into the Catholic Church. After Easter,Continue reading “The Blessed Mother”

In the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew we see two very interesting and seemingly different encounters Peter has with Jesus. First, Jesus installs Peter as the first pope: “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him,Continue reading “The Obstacle”

In John 14:16 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Paraclete.” The literal translation of the word Paraclete is “the One Called Alongside.” Paraclete is also translated as: Encourager Advocate Comforter Helper Counselor Over the last five months of this pandemic you may have felt isolated, uncertain, confused, lonely or afraid.  Likely you felt several ofContinue reading “The One Called Alongside”

In a passage from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul begins: That I, Paul, might not become too elated, because of the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. 12:7 What? AContinue reading “When I am weak, then I am strong”

This post is not so much sacred thinking except for the fact that it is about my blog “Sacred Thinking.” After I started this blog I’ve been adding chunks and chunks of articles to it, much of which was taken from my past writings, which has resulted in a nice little startup collection. And forContinue reading “Housekeeping…”