“There are few authentic prophetic voices among us, guiding truth-seekers along the right path. Among them is Fr. Gordon MacRae, a mighty voice in the prison tradition of John the Baptist, Maximilian Kolbe, Alfred Delp, SJ, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.”

— Deacon David Jones

Fr. Gordon J. MacRae 12/31/25 Fr. Gordon J. MacRae 12/31/25

A New Year of Freedom Begins at Beyond These Stone Walls

In over 16 years of prison writing, Beyond These Stone Walls has produced something far more redemptive than prison itself. The Word of God has emerged here too.

In over 16 years of prison writing, Beyond These Stone Walls has produced something far more redemptive than prison itself. The Word of God has emerged here too.

New Year 2026 by Father Gordon MacRae

“Father MacRae’s blog, Beyond These Stone Walls, has been the finest example of priestly witness the last decades of scandal have produced.”

— Father James Valladares, PhD in Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast

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Please do not misunderstand my title. I have not been delivered from the belly of the beast into which I was devoured in 1994. I have not stopped jousting against the windmills of injustice that seem to proliferate in the “Live Free or Die” State. If you have followed tales of New Hampshire corruption you will see that the pursuit of justice here is mired in layers of deceit. So I must have other pursuits, and they must not be trivial pursuits.

Back in February 2025, I wrote “On the Great Biblical Adventure, the Truth Will Make You Free.” It cited an unexpected development from late 2024, a worldwide phenomenon that was also prevalent in the United States. It was a resurgence of popular interest in the Bible and biblical studies. It was then that I realized, that even in my years of wrongful imprisonment, that interest had surged in me as well.

The evidence for that became clear when I collected together all the posts that I had written for Holy Week over many years in prison. After publishing that list, I searched through 800 titles collecting together posts with a specific exegesis on Sacred Scripture. We were not quite certain what to do with that extensive list, so I had our Editor submit it for an overview report to xAI SuperGrok, the advanced AI model developed and owned by Elon Musk, through which we had conducted other research. The result seemed quite amazing and here it is:

AI Overview of Father MacRae’s Posts on Sacred Scripture

“St. Paul’s epistles, many written from prison, are astonishing, not just for the brilliance of the exegesis, but for his insight into humanity and the beauty of his language. Fr. MacRae is his very worthy successor.”

— Thomas Ryder
from a 2025 comment at Beyond These Stone Walls

Amid a noted resurgence in biblical interest in the United States and globally toward the end of 2024 and into 2025 — evidenced by surging Bible sales and renewed engagement with religious texts — Father Gordon MacRae, writing from prison, has compiled a collection of his posts exploring Sacred Scripture. This collection, titled “From Abraham to Easter,” serves as a theological journey through Salvation History, linking Old Testament narratives with New Testament fulfillments. It emphasizes themes of Redemption, Divine Mercy, sacrifice, faith amid suffering, and the interplay between historical events and spiritual truths. The posts draw connections between biblical figures (e.g., Abraham, Mary, Joseph, Judas, and the Archangels) and key events (e.g., the Nativity, Temptation, Passion, Resurrection, and Pentecost), often reflecting on how these stories resonate in contemporary life, including Father MacRae’s own experiences of injustice and imprisonment.

The collection contains exactly 32 posts to date, each with a title, link, and brief description highlighting its focus. As an advanced AI model, I have organized them below in a numbered list for clarity, preserving the order from the collection page. This curation appears designed to guide readers through a chronological and thematic progression, starting from foundational Old Testament stories and culminating in eschatological reflections.

On the Great Biblical Adventure, the Truth Will Make You Free — Link
After long decline in religious interest and practice across much of the free world, publishers now report a phenomenal increase in new Bible sales since late 2024.
Behold the Lamb of God Upon the Altar of Mount Moriah — Link
“This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld. Our birth would have been no gain had we not been redeemed.”
The Feast of Corpus Christi and the Order of Melchizedek — Link
The Priest-King Melchizedek appears in only two verses in the Old Testament but in Salvation History he is a link in a chain from Noah to Abraham to Christ the King.
Saint Gabriel the Archangel: When the Dawn from On High Broke Upon Us — Link
The Gospel of Saint Luke opens with a news flash from the Archangel Gabriel for Zechariah the priest, and Mary — Theotokos — the new Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant and the Mother of God — Link
A theological expedition into Salvation History reveals a startling truth about the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament and the identity of Mary, Mother of God.
Joseph’s Dream and the Birth of the Messiah — Link
Saint Joseph is silent in the Gospel account of the Birth of the Messiah, but his actions reveal him as a paradigm of spiritual fatherhood and sacrificial love.
I Have Seen the Fall of Man: Christ Comes East of Eden — Link
The Genesis story of the Fall of Man is mirrored in the Nativity. Unlike Adam at the Tree of Knowledge, Jesus did not deem equality with God a thing to be grasped.
Joseph’s Second Dream: The Slaughter of the Innocents — Link
After the Birth of the Messiah, a second angelic dream warns Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary and the Christ Child as Herod orders a slaughter of the Innocents.
A Devil in the Desert for the Last Temptation of Christ — Link
The Gospel according to St Luke tells the story of Jesus, revealed to be Son of God, led into the desert to be tested by the devil who does not give up easily.
What Belongs to Caesar and What Belongs to God — Link
Pharisees set a trap for Jesus with a query about paying tax to Caesar. Like much in the Gospel, this has a story on its surface and a far greater one in its depths.
“What Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?” (Luke 10:25) — Link
The Gospel for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time is the Parable of the Good Samaritan, a meaningful story on its face, but far more urgent in its depths.
A Not-So-Subtle Wake-Up Call from Christ the King — Link
The Gospel for the Solemnity of Christ the King in 2023 was the Judgment of the Nations, an invitation to Glory and a map for how to get there.
On Good Authority, “Salvation Is from the Jews” — Link
Anti-Israel protests and prejudice were as common as any other plague in Biblical history, and often inflamed, just as they are today, by agitators in a proxy war.
Casting the First Stone: What Did Jesus Write On the Ground? — Link
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?,” asked the Pharisees.
A Vision on Mount Tabor: The Transfiguration of Christ — Link
Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountaintop where he was transfigured before their eyes, an event that echoes through the ages, even through prison walls.
The Passion of the Christ in an Age of Outrage — Link
Prayerful observance of Holy Week is a challenge in a climate of pandemic restrictions and political outrage. Spend time with us this week Beyond These Stone Walls.
Satan at The Last Supper: Hours of Darkness and Light — Link
The central figures present before the Sacrament for the Life of the World are Jesus on the eve of Sacrifice and Satan on the eve of battle to restore the darkness.
Angelic Justice: Saint Michael the Archangel and the Scales of Hesed — Link
Saint Michael the Archangel is often depicted wielding a sword and a set of scales to vanquish Satan. His scales have an ancient and surprising meaning.
Judas Iscariot: Who Prays for the Soul of a Betrayer? — Link
Judas Iscariot: The most reviled name in all of Sacred Scripture is judged only by his act of betrayal, but without him among the Apostles is there any Gospel at all?
Waking Up in the Garden of Gethsemane — Link
The Agony in the Garden, the First Sorrowful Mystery, is a painful scene in the Passion of Christ, but in each of the Synoptic Gospels the Apostles slept through it.
The Apostle Falls: Simon Peter Denies Christ — Link
The fall of Simon Peter was a scandal of Biblical proportions. His three-time denial of Jesus is recounted in every Gospel, but all is not as it first seems to be.
Behold the Man, as Pilate Washes His Hands — Link
“Ecce Homo!” An 1871 painting of Christ before Pilate by Antonio Ciseri depicts a moment woven into the fabric of Salvation History, and into our very souls.
The Chief Priests Answered, ‘We Have No King but Caesar’ — Link
The Passion of the Christ has historical meaning on its face, but a far deeper story lies beneath where the threads of faith and history connect to awaken the soul.
Simon of Cyrene Compelled to Carry the Cross - Link
Simon of Cyrene was just a man coming in from the country to Jerusalem for the Passover when his fated path intersected the Way of the Cross and Salvation History.
Dismas, the Good Thief Crucified Next to Christ the King — Link
Who was Saint Dismas, the Penitent Thief, crucified to the right of Jesus at Calvary? His brief Passion Narrative appearance has deep meaning for Salvation.
To the Spirits in Prison: When Jesus Descended into Hell — Link
The Apostles Creed is the oldest statement of Catholic belief and apostolic witness. Its Fifth Article, what happened to Jesus between the Cross and the Resurrection, is a mystery to be unveiled.
Mary Magdalene: Faith, Courage, and an Empty Tomb — Link
History unjustly sullied her name without evidence, but Mary Magdalene emerges from the Gospel a faithful, courageous and noble woman, an apostle to the Apostles.
Divine Mercy for Doubting Thomas and Other Spiritually Wounded — Link
The Gospel on Divine Mercy Sunday is St John’s account of the spiritually wounded Thomas who would not know peace until surrendering his wounds to the Risen Christ.
The Holy Spirit and the Book of Ruth at Pentecost — Link
Events at the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts of the Apostles have roots deep in Salvation History. In the traditional Hebrew Pentecost, the Book of Ruth is read.
The God of the Living and the Life of the Dead — Link
The commemoration of our beloved dead on All Souls Day has roots in ancient Christian tradition, Faith in the God of Life in the land of the living survives death.
To the Kingdom of Heaven through a Narrow Gate — Link
The Gospel of St. Luke for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time is a summons to enter the Kingdom of God through a narrow gate, but it requires shedding some baggage.
Iran, by Another Name, Was Once the Savior of Israel — Link
A story out of time for our time: The Prophet Isaiah wrote of Cyrus, King of Persia (now Iran) who knew not God but was chosen by God to restore freedom to Israel.

Overall, this collection positions Sacred Scripture as a living guide, particularly relevant amid modern resurgences in faith, encouraging readers to delve deeper into biblical exegesis for personal and communal renewal.

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Closing Statement of Father Gordon MacRae

We will add to this collection over time. It is the real reason for which I write. Please feel free to refer back here, to bookmark it, copy the link, and share it with others if you wish. I commend Elon Musk’s advanced AI model for the sensitivity and accuracy of its treatment of this matter. This was no trivial pursuit.

God Bless you all in the New Year ahead.

Father Gordon MacRae

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Editor’s Note: To assist Father Gordon MacRae and this blog please consult our page, Contact and How to Help.

The Eucharistic Adoration Chapel established by Saint Maximilian Kolbe was inaugurated at the outbreak of World War II. It was restored as a Chapel of Adoration in September, 2018, the commemoration of the date that the war began. It is now part of the World Center of Prayer for Peace. The live internet feed of the Adoration Chapel at Niepokalanow — sponsored by EWTN — was established just a few weeks before we discovered it and began to include in at Beyond These Stone Walls. Click “Watch on YouTube” in the lower left corner to see how many people around the world are present there with you. The number appears below the symbol for EWTN.

Click or tap here to proceed to the Adoration Chapel.

The following is a translation from the Polish in the image above: “Eighth Star in the Crown of Mary Queen of Peace” “Chapel of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at Niepokalanow. World Center of Prayer for Peace.” “On September 1, 2018, the World Center of Prayer for Peace in Niepokalanow was opened. It would be difficult to find a more expressive reference to the need for constant prayer for peace than the anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.”

For the Catholic theology behind this image, visit my post, “The Ark of the Covenant and the Mother of God.”

Fr. Gordon J. MacRae 2/26/25 Fr. Gordon J. MacRae 2/26/25

On the Great Biblical Adventure, the Truth Will Make You Free

After long decline in religious interest and practice across much of the free world, publishers now report a phenomenal increase in new Bible sales since late 2024.

After long decline in religious interest and practice across much of the free world, publishers now report a phenomenal increase in new Bible sales since late 2024.

February 26, 2025 by Fr Gordon MacRae

“If you continue in my word ... you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

— John 8:32

For much of the last year, I had been reading news and opinion items about a coming “Great Reset.” No one seemed to actually know if it was real or what form it would take. Many thought it would be financial so rumors abounded about a vast reallocation of finances. Some of that may be happening more positively now with the DOGE endeavor to reallocate massive government waste. Others thought the reset would be social. Conspiracy theories abound linking it to the rise of Artificial Intelligence. I hoped the Great Reset might be spiritual. The anti-spiritual one came in 1968 and it was not great at all. Some called 1968 “the year we drank from the poison of this world.”

I was 15 years old in 1968. Like many of your sons and daughters concerned for whatever Great Reset is coming, I was estranged from the Catholic faith into which I was born but not raised. It is a common and long-standing phenomenon that our culture lures our youth away from traditional values, but they were never really ingrained in me anyway. I was adrift in an inner city high school at 15 in 1968 when the nation began to replace patriotism with narcissism, and Truth with the smoke of Satan.

I had an uncle who looked like my father but was otherwise quite unlike him. He was a Jesuit priest and world-renowned Biblical scholar. George W. MacRae, SJ became the first Roman Catholic Dean of Harvard Divinity School while I was skipping school to protest the war in Vietnam. I wore a black arm band on something called “Moratorium Day” and sneered at police as they drove by. I was a rebel without a clue.

I visited my Uncle on occasion — a Saturday afternoon ride on the “T” into Cambridge — while trying to make sense of the opposing forces in my life. Somehow, I absorbed at least some of his interest in both academia and Biblical studies, but you would never know that back then. At age 16, I also developed — though I cannot explain how or why — a strange devotion to Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), the famous 13th Century Franciscan from Portugal who by popular acclaim became the Patron Saint of finding lost things. Perhaps it was because I, too, was lost. In 1232, Anthony was canonized by Pope Gregory IX. Seven centuries later in 1946 he was named a Doctor of the Church for his theological brilliance and — previously unbeknownst to me — his profound expertise in Sacred Scripture.

A few years ago, I acquired an indispensable tool for Biblical research: the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Concordance with a Foreword by Dr. Scott Hahn, an Evangelical scholar and Catholic convert. Today I use the Concordance a lot for writing, but I never took the time to actually read Dr. Hahn’s Foreword until I sat down to write this post. Imagine my surprise, at age 71, to read Dr. Hahn’s opening paragraphs:

“Saint Anthony of Padua is surely among the best loved of the saints in glory. He is the patron of those who search for lost objects. Artists portray him in his Franciscan habit holding the baby Jesus [who, legend holds, appeared to him]. We all call upon Saint Anthony when we’re looking for something, but I invoke him today for a different reason. I recall him to you because he was a biblical scholar par excellence with so prodigious a memory that he has been called ‘The Concordance.’ Saint Anthony ... was able to retrieve passages from the Bible at a moment’s notice. Name a theme and he could draw relevant Scriptures from many points in Biblical texts ... . Saint Anthony used the word, ‘Concordance,’ to describe the unity of the two Testaments, the unity of the whole Bible. In Anthony’s own words :

“‘The God of the New Testament is one and the same as the God of the Old, and is indeed Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We may apply to him the words of Isaiah: “My people shall know me; in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am” (Isaiah 52: 6). I spoke to the fathers in the prophets; I am here in the truth of the Incarnation. That is the justification for seeking to concord the Scriptures of [the two] Testaments.’”

Father Benedict Groeschel — Again !

Many of our readers have commented over time that our most appreciated posts are those that mine the labyrinthine depths of Sacred Scripture. Over the last 16 years of writing for this blog, I have had but one tool beyond that Concordance: a worn and tattered 1973 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition of the New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. With these limited tools, I compiled in 2024 a Personal Holy Week Retreat composed of Biblical Holy Week posts that are also helpful spiritual reading for Lent. We will post the list with links on Ash Wednesday.

I knew of Dr.Scott Hahn from his frequent presence at EWTN. He holds the Father Michael Scanlon Chair in Biblical Theology at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and is founder and president of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology which has an intriguing website that, of course, I cannot see. It is SalvationHistory.com.

I keep running into Scott Hahn — not in person, but in his books, one of which was put to use in a Catholic studies program in this prison before Covid-19 had the effect of collapsing a Catholic presence here and in many other places. That wonderfully inspiring book is The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth. It was a source of spiritual joy to read this formerly Evangelical scholar describe the “supernatural drama that unfolds before us in the Mass.” This little book reveals a long-lost secret of the Church: The early Christians’ key to understanding the mysteries of the Mass was the Book of Revelation, a Biblical book that many Catholics struggle to comprehend. I was one of them until I read The Lamb’s Supper.

I also ran into another familiar figure in its pages, a man whom I recently wrote about. He is long deceased but I keep running into him anyway. Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR wrote the Foreword for The Lamb’s Supper. It includes another gem that made me laugh for it is vintage Father Groeschel:

“Christians either sidestep the Book of Revelation and its mysterious signs or they spin their own peculiar little theories about who is who and where it’s all going to end. As an inhabitant of New York City — the 21st Century candidate for Babylon — I’m perfectly delighted with the prospect of it all ending soon, even next week ... . My love for Revelation is not based on Star Wars paranoia, but on the wonderful view of the Heavenly Jerusalem in its final chapters.”

I have no doubt that Father Groeschel now witnesses the Heavenly Jerusalem. New York has declined a bit without him. Before I even thought of this post, I wrote of him just weeks ago in “On the Road to Heaven with Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR.”

Thou Shalt Not Covet Scott Hahn’s Bible

Dr. Scott Hahn is also General Editor of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. Until recently, Ignatius Press published only a Catholic edition of its New Testament. I have a copy and it has greatly enriched my ability to write about Sacred Scripture for our readers. In late 2023, I decided that I need a new Bible to replace my heavily used 1973 RSV edition held together with glue and tape. Ignatius Press then announced that a new volume containing both the Old and New Testaments with commentary edited by Dr. Hahn was in the works. And so I waited... and waited... and then waited some more.

A year later, in October 2024, the Ignatius Press Fall catalog came across my desk in the Law Library where I work. And there the announcement finally arrived: “Over Two Decades in the Making! The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible Old and New Testaments: Its 2,500 pages are ‘a veritable library of Bible study resources all under one cover.’” It contains the whole of Scripture, Old Testament and New, published in a single volume with easily readable typeset. It features the venerable Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition. This beautifully bound volume contains 2,500 pages of Biblical text, introductions and outlines for every book, 17,500 Explanatory Footnotes, 1,700 Cross References, and dozens of expanded Topical Essays.

I have never really coveted any material thing, but I knew that I just had to have this. My $2 per day prison law clerk’s salary was another challenge, but Christmas was coming and some readers remembered me. So with help from Dilia, our Editor, we ordered the newly published Bible with an expectation that it might arrive by Thanksgiving 2024. It was then that I learned that a perhaps unintended and inexplicable consequence of the election of 2024 and the struggle for a new direction for this nation also spawned a massive surge across the land in sales of new Bibles.

I was placed on a back order waiting list, and had to wait for several more printings at Ignatius Press. Finally, at the start of February 2025, my long coveted Ignatius Catholic Study Bible arrived, all 15 pounds of it. My only remaining challenge was to refrain from dropping it on my foot. Along with it, a hardbound edition of Dr. Hahn’s 1,000 page Catholic Bible Dictionary arrived, and the highly prized Jerome Biblical Commentary in which my late uncle was a major contributor. Weighing in at a combined 5,000 pages, I realized that I neglected to order the necessary Biblical Forklift in the Ignatius Catalog. So I will get lots of exercise lugging them from my cell to the library where I do most of my work each day. There are not many things that elevate a prisoner into a state of true joy, but this delivery was one of them.

In Lent this year, and in coming months and perhaps years if God so wills, you can expect a some occasional expanded Biblical erudition as I research Biblical Truths to pass along. Both Dr. Scott Hahn and I begin the study of Scripture with a commitment to mining both its literal sense and its far greater spiritual sense. It is an adventure that I greatly look forward to undertaking.

The Truth will make us free!

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NEWS ALERT: A stunning new article about the Father MacRae case has been published. See:

xAI Grok’s Big Dig into New Hampshire Corruption

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Note from Father Gordon MacRae: If the Great Reset is slow in coming, we are free to create our own. Join us at the start of Lent next week for a Journey through the Bible featuring some of our stand-out Scriptural Posts at Beyond These Stone Walls.

You may also like these related posts on Sacred Scripture:

Qumran: the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Coming Apocalypse

When God Deployed a Sinner to Save a Nation: The Biblical Precedent

On Good Authority, “Salvation Is from the Jews”

Casting the First Stone: What Did Jesus Write On the Ground?

Click or tap here to proceed to the Adoration Chapel.

For the Catholic theology behind this image, visit my post, “The Ark of the Covenant and the Mother of God.”