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Once upon a time there was a TV preacher who proclaimed the Prosperity Gospel: Commit your life to Christ and you will be blessed with good health, wealth and a happy home life.

Caiaphas, presumably, was a well-respected man. To become the high priest, his integrity must have been valued by others.

Popular mythology assumes that the culmination of history will be marked by a great "final battle" between the forces of good and evil. This myth has made for plenty of action movies in which the men in white hats achieve final and total victory over those in black hats.

If a person is living a virtuous life, will they know it or will they be oblivious to the fact?

The ancient Athenians were like people in any culture. They believed that if wrong was done to a person then the person had to respond in kind. Often, this was not seen as revenge, but rather as a sincere attempt to restore justice.

In a world where evil is a reality, fear is a constant motivator. The greatest evil – and the last one to be conquered – is death. It is only human to fear death and to do what one can do to avoid dying.

The promise of the meek inheriting the earth sounds ridiculous to us. How can a conglomeration of wispy, frightened, passive nobodies become rulers of any land? Jesus must be engaging in irony, telling a subtle joke.

However, later on, Jesus identifies himself with the meek. "Come to me all who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest," he says. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. For my yoke is easy and my burden light."

Glen Argan Western Catholic Reporter

Fortunately, there are people who rein me in. There was the priest who, when I mentioned that I had been asked to take on a responsible, time-consuming volunteer position, looked at me as though I was daft.

Then, he calmly said, "If you have any extra time that you feel you can give, you should devote it to your work at the Western Catholic Reporter."

Humility is essential to the Christian life. That message is said in various ways and various places throughout the New Testament.

One of my favourite references is in 2 Corinthians where St. Paul says he will boast only of his weakness. The Lord says to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (12.9).

At times, I have thought it would be beneficial to see the key events of our daily lives in a mirror or on a video at the end of the day. It could give one a hearty dose of reality. Seeing our actions with greater objectivity would help us realize that they may not be what we thought they were when we performed them.

Our tone of voice, our actions and even our words would not always be how we remember them. Seeing them from an external viewpoint might spur us to change.