Part Thirteen of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — If you’ve been following this series from the beginning, you may recall that the original premise was that while we have enshrined the heroes of the Bible in marble and stained glass, they were just as screwed up as the rest of us. That being the case, as we reach…

Part Twelve of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — During the course of this series taking a deeper look at biblical characters we think we know well but maybe don’t, we have seen both figures who had more flaws than we remember and ones who are remembered more harshly than they should be. The man we’ll be looking at…

Part Eleven of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — We’re nearing the end of the “Not Many Mighty” series (I’m finally getting the closing article on St. Peter down to a manageable size), and I had almost forgotten one biblical figure who must be included. It hit me at Mass this past Sunday when I noticed the statue of…

Part Ten of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — We’re nearing the end of the “Not Many Mighty” series (yes, it will finish with St. Peter, finally), and I’ve been thinking a lot about which biblical characters to write about as it comes to a close. If you’ve been following the series, you know that it is mainly about…

Part Nine of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — Given that I took the title of the “Not Many Mighty” series from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians as well as the fact that he’s my patron saint, it’s surprising I’ve waited this long to get around to him. Better late than never, but where to even start…

Part Eight of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — When I started this series, I said that my premise was that while we tend to overlook the flaws of prominent figures from the Bible, memorializing heroes like Moses, Elijah, and Peter in marble and stained-glass, they were just as screwed up as any of us…and God still used them…

Part Seven of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — We’re past the halfway point in the “Not Many Mighty” series and before tackling a group of well-known biblical figures (yes, Peter will be there), there is one “minor” character that deserves a brief look. I put minor in quotes because though he personally appears only briefly in the New…

Part Six of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — When I started this series about the flawed heroes of the Bible six weeks ago, I said that the series title, “Not Many Mighty,” came from the following passage in 1 Corinthians: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty…

Part Five of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — When I began the “Not Many Mighty” series several weeks ago, my premise was that the biblical heroes we’ve all come to know over the millennia were not perfect saints; just like us, they were all flawed human beings facing many of the same struggles and failings we do today…

Part Four of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — Welcome to the weekly installment of the “Not Many Mighty” series, where we look at heroes from the Bible as they really were, warts and all. In the last episode, I said that this week we’d be looking at the poster boy of second chances, the apostle Peter. That’s actually…

Part Three of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — Welcome to this week’s installment of the “Not Many Mighty” series. Last week we looked at Moses, and today we’re staying in the Old Testament for a look at one of the most interesting figures in the Bible: Elijah, a prophet who is essentially unknown even by many Christians. If…

Part Two of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — Welcome to this week’s installment of the “Not Many Mighty” series (I’ve decided on Tuesday as the day for these, for no reason in particular). Last week we looked at Jonah, and today the biblical “hero” is even bigger, perhaps the biggest of any in the Old Testament: Moses, lawgiver…

Part One of the ‘Not Many Mighty’ series — When it comes to characters from the Bible, we tend to remember them for one big thing: Moses and the burning bush, Elijah’s chariot of fire, Jonah and a big fish. And while Jonah and the great fish is the story we all remember (no matter what you learned in…

They weren’t just stained-glass saints — In the sixth season of the television series The West Wing, presidential candidate Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits) tells the nominating convention the following: “We’re all broken — every single one of us — and yet we pretend that we’re not.” It’s been almost two decades since the episode…