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February 13, 2020

 Jeremiah 17:5-8; Response: Psalm 1:1-2, 3-4, 6; Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Gospel: Luke 6:17, 20-26 

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 It is true that everything we have comes from God. He has provided for us in the past, He will provide for us today, and He will provide for us in the future. Nothing can happen that will change that. When we have this level of trust in God, we can face anything with confidence. We know that God is in charge and that He will see us through whatever challenges we may face. However, if we do not trust God, everything will seem overwhelming to us. We will start to panic and make rash decisions. We will hold on to what little we have rather than be generous with it.

It is precisely when we are under stress that we realize what level of trust we have in God. What gives us hope when we look to the future? Is it God and His love for us or is it the balance in our checking account? Is our hope for the years to come based on God’s goodness or in the strength of the economy? Does our sense of security come from God who never changes or in the government? Or, as the prophet Jeremiah would put it in today’s first reading, is our trust in human beings or in God?

Jeremiah tells us very clearly what people whose hope is only in the things of this world are like. They are like a barren bush in the desert that stays dry, brown, and dead. It can never grow or flower because it is rooted in land that is rocky, salty, and empty. That is what happens to us when our only hope is in the economy, in politics, or in people. We will be let down and

disappointed. Everything will be bitter to us. Nothing will live up to our expectations. We will always be complaining because nothing is good enough.

However, Jeremiah holds out a promise for those whose trust is in God. They will be like a tree planted beside a river, that is constantly irrigated and refreshed. No matter how hot or dry it is, it will always have plenty of nourishment. Even in times of drought, it flowers and bears fruit. When we trust in God, we have joy both in good times and in bad times. Nothing makes us afraid because we have our eyes fixed on God who promises to provide for us. People who trust in God look to the future with hope because all things are possible for our Heavenly Father. The whole world and its future are in His loving hands. People who trust in God are free to be charitable and generous. Like the businessman who pledged a quarter of a million dollars in a bad economy, they can give freely because they know that God will continue to provide for them.

What kind of person do you want to be? Do you want to be fearful, miserable, and despairing? Or do you want to be hopeful, joyful, and generous? The secret is simply to look to God and His love for security and hope. He can never let us down.

Putting our trust in God is also the key to understanding today’s gospel.

Those who trust in God do not look to wealth for their identity. They can flourish even in poverty because their hope is in the Kingdom of God. They also do not look to food and drink to comfort them when things are difficult. Instead, they look to God for consolation and so can be joyful even in hunger. Those who trust in God are not indifferent to the suffering of others. They feel sadness at a society that puts the unborn to death, that considers the sick and elderly as disposable, and that closes its borders to those who are fleeing corruption and violence. Even as they mourn over a world that has lost its way, they look to God to give them hope and comfort. Finally, people who trust in God do not care what other people think of them. They stay true to their beliefs and principles even in the face of violent persecution. It is just such people whom God will bless.

In today’s second reading, Saint Paul tells us, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.” Christians have a vision of life that transcends this world. Our homeland is in heaven. That is where our hope lies. Even while we work to make this world a place transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we keep our eyes fixed on the world to come. Trusting in God does not mean that bad things will not happen to us. Christians experience poverty, hunger, sadness, and persecution as much, if not more, than anyone else. The difference is that we can be joyful in it all because of our hope in God. Our world is in desperate need of hope and it can only come from God. If we live generously, caring deeply about others, and sacrificing ourselves to meet the hunger of those around us, we will bring others to the God who is the reason for our hope and the source of our blessings.

August 1 , 2021 Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

We hear Jesus today tell the crowds that he is the bread of life, that those who look to him will never hunger or thirst. Before that, we hear the Lord satisfy the hunger of the Chosen People when they were starving in the desert. In between, Saint Paul challenges us to change from
our old self and “put on (our) new self” now that we have learned the truth in Jesus. Listening to today’s readings, let us reflect on how God satisfies our hunger

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 18 2021

In today’s Gospel, people from towns all over Galilee hurried to see
and hear Jesus. His heart was moved, for they appeared to be “sheep
without a shepherd.” Jesus is that shepherd. Jesus is our shepherd. He
has drawn us here today, from different households, from different
families, perhaps even from different towns. We come today to celebrate
the Eucharist, this wonderful sacrament that Jesus established to be
celebrated in his name until the end of time, this sacrament in which
we receive our Lord, our redeemer, our shepherd.

Most Holy Trinity May 30, 2021

“In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit” We say this when we enter a church, begin Mass or begin prayer. It is our identity. It reminds us that we are in the presence of God. It joins us to millions of other Christians across time and space. It expresses our belief in the Triune God. Three persons in one God enabled God to become incarnate, enabled God to come down upon us in baptism, and enables God to be with us here today and every day. Let us contemplate the great woners God has done and continues to do in our daily lives. 

When have I noticed the Spirit’s presence in my life? How can I become more
aware of the Spirit’s effect on me

Where Are You ?

By Ryan Pemberton

It’s nearly eight o’clock in the morning, and I’m listening to the whir of the coffee grinder as dark, roasted beans churn. Steam is starting to rise from the kettle. I decide not to turn on the morning new. NOT YET, I tell myself. Soon, I’m pouring a thread of water in circular motions over the ground coffee, mounded just slightly in a paper cone. Water begins to drip and fill the glass base.  As I wait I crack open my morning prayer book, find the days readings and begin to read quietly. This morning I am on schedule takin in Scripture before the news hots my ears.

I take a seat in my wingback chair, close my eyes, and focus on my breathing- in and out. As my breathing slows, I begin to pray, focusing on many things heavy on my mind and heart, and then offering them into the only hands that can bear the weight. I spend some time in silence.

And then, I turn on the news, and the emails, and everyone else the day involves. At some point in the afternoon, i break for a run. I change my clothes, put  in my ear buds, and listen to the Pray As You Go App. Peaceful music and scripture was over my mind as I run around the lake. I am invited to reflect on the text, to offer to Jesus whatever burdens or gifts the Scripture brings to mind. I feel cleansed. Renewed. Of course these are the good days. 

There are many days when this liturgical rhythm simply doesn’t work. Either because I jump straight from bed to into a project I left unfinished from the night before, or because there is simply no time for an afternoon run, there are many days when my daily liturgy is disrupted. And i am increasingly aware of its cost. 

Recently I was thinking of the story of Genesis where our first parents are hiding after those fateful bites of fruit. I was thinking about how God is described as “walking in the Garden in the cool of the evening”, one of my favorite images in Scripture. And i was thinking about God’s question “Where are you”?

On thesse busy days when I jettisoned my morning or afternoon liturgy for the sake of an email or a project, I wonder if God asks the same of me . “Where are you?”

I like to think that this account of God walking in the cool of the evening suggests that God was in the habit of meeting the first humans here. As though an evening stroll and conversation were part of God’s own daily liturgy. I like to picture God still taking those evening strolls, or sitting alongside us during our morning coffee and prayer, eager to meet us on the way.

But some days we hide, out of sheet busyness, exhaustion, guilt or shame, like our first parents. Whatever the reason, I imagine God’s question to us is the same question God raised in the garden. “Where were you?” 

I like to think its not just for our sakes that we open our morning devotional, spend time in silent prayer, or listen to Scripture on an afternoon walk or run. Perhaps God, too, intends to meet us here. 

May 2,2021

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Jesus tells us in todays Gospel that he remaims in us and if we remain in Him we will bear much fruit. Gathered together today, we are a visibile sign of a community who remains in thier Lord. May the sustenance we receive here from Word and Eucharist nourish us so that we may bear much fruit. 

In order to flourish and bear fruit, the vine needs to be pruned. What in me needs to be pruned so that I can bear fruit to the fullest extent possible. 

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time Aug 23 2020

ISAIAH 22:19-23

This is what we know about ol’ Shebna, so called “master of the palace”. He was the chief of staff for KinHezekiah, a weak ruler during the time when Isaiah was the main prophet of Jerusalem. Hezekiah need a lot of counsel to get through the average day. Isaiah and Shebna both had their work cut out for them. 

However, Shebna was no great shakes  a palace master. In the fuller passage for today, Isaiah reveals that Shebnas has ca himself and elaborate tomb, more fitting for a king rather a servant. Maybe Shabna was cooking the books and skimming the profits? Isaiah announces that Shebna is getting bounced and a fellow servant is taking his job. (Spoiler: the next guy is no better) Elsewhere, Shebna is identified as Hezekiah’s scribe. Maybe his fall weasn’t so far. Or perhaps literacy couldnt be wasted. 

WE ALL MOVE THROUGH VARIOUS SEASONS IN LIFE, SOME HONORABLE, SOME DISGRACED.  (Dras a time line of you lifes ups and downs)

 

ROMAS 11:33-36

The more youread the Bible, the more you realize its not just a book, but a library. And all these writer are quoting or referring to each others texts-without always providing the courteous citation. The original audience recognized the references. In our less oral culture, we don hear the reference and could use the footnote.

Here Paul quotes Isaiah, followed by Job, and presumes we are good with that. Curiously he is using Greek texts and not Hebrew ones, as a Rabbi would. It’s one more reasonPauls an outsider to the Jerusalem Christians: He is for Tarsus in Cilicia (Turkey), not born and bred in Glilee like the original disciples. Pal didnt walk with Jesus but often claims to know more about the mind of Christ than the Twelve! Those who think our current church has factions should read the New Testament again.

THE EARLY CHURCH WAS NO DREAM COMMUNITY OF PEACE AND JOY. What issues divide the Church today?

MATTHEW 16:13-20

 Moat people reading this will identify themselves as Christian, maybe Catholic, most likely believrs or at least church goers.

But do all these categories mean , and which is the most important claim for us to make in expressing our identity?

Jesus asks his followers to identify who he is, In order to do that, we also have to reveal who we are in the religious scheme of things. We cant claim Jesus as Lord, for example, unless we’re willing to identify as his servants. We cant call him Son of God unless we are prepared to be worshipers. If he is Savior of the world, then we have to let ourselves be saved. If he’s our teacher, then we better be prepared to learn our lessons. When it comes to naming Jesus, we name ourselves in the same measure. Who is he? And who are we?

MAKE CLAIMS ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF JESUS THAT MATTER MOST OF YOU.  CONSIDER WHAT EACH CLAIM DEMANDS OF YOU IN TURN. 

 

 

 

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kings 19:9a, 11–13a Elijah recognized God in the tiny whispering sound.
Psalm 85 “Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.”
Romans 9:1–5 Paul speaks the truth in Christ.
Matthew 14:22–33 Jesus walks on the sea.

 


Elijah and Peter each encounter the Lord in an unusual way in today’s
readings. Elijah expected the LORD to come in the wind, in an earthquake,
or with fire, but instead it was in a tiny whispering sound. The Lord
appeared like a ghost to the disciples during a storm and Peter dared
to walk across the raging sea. How do we encounter the Lord? Here in
this space we encounter the Lord in his Church, gathered together in
his name, and in the Eucharist

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kings 3:5, 7–12 – Solomon asks for an understanding heart. Psalm 119 “Lord, I love your commands.”

Romans 8:28–30 -God predestined us to be conformed to the image of the Son.

Matthew 13:44–52 “The kingdom of heaven or 13:44–46 is like a treasure buried in a field.”

Today we encounter a number of people whom fortune smiles upon. Solomon, heir to David’s throne, is visited by God, who promises him whatever he wishes. In the Gospel, a random person discovers buried treasure and a merchant searching for fine pearls finds a pearl of great price. How do these people respond? How would we respond? Let us listen to God’s word and contemplate our true fortune, our true treasure.

 

Again this week Jesus uses parables to describe the kingdom of heaven. The act of buying a field in which you’ve just reburied a treasure seems strange and a little deceptive, but in the uncertain political situation of Jesus’ time, and especially at the time the Gospels were written, hiding a treasure underground was not uncommon. The parable’s point is that the finder gives everything he has to gain that treasure. So must we be willing to do to gain the treasure of heaven.

 

What or whom have I overlooked in searching for the kingdom of heaven? How can I develop an understanding heart?

16th Week in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 12:13, 16–19 God gives repentance for our sins.


Psalm 86 “Lord, you are good and forgiving.”


Romans 8:26–27 The Spirit intercedes for us.


Matthew 13:24–43 Let the seeds grow together until harvest.
or 13:24–30

 

 

 

 

It is a great pleasure in the middle of these slow summer months to sit back and listen to stories. The crowds in the Gospel were able to do just that, for Jesus taught them by telling parables. Parables made his lessons about the kingdom of heaven memorable, in ways in which straightforward narration would fail. Now it is our turn to listen. Let us listen to them, reflecting on their rich images and considering their meaning in our lives.

It is not likely that a farmer or gardener would follow the householder’s example in the Gospel. Left unchecked, weeds will compete with plants for water, sunlight, and nutrients. At best, the good plants will not bear as much fruit. At worst, they will wither and die. Good farmers keep their land as free of weeds as possible. Yes, pulling up weeds that are mixed in with plants may damage the crop, but allowing them to grow together just gives them more opportunity to damage the crop. However, as Jesus reveals to his disciples, parables are not meant to be taken literally. God, the wise and merciful judge, is patient with the weeds, allowing them to grow to completion. Growth implies change. Change effected by the Spirit, who comes to the aid of human weakness, is transformative. Throughout the human growing season—our lifetimes—there remains hope for even the most wicked of weeds.

Look at me!!

 

How does God’s patience with the weeds change the way you act toward others? To whom do you need to show mercy this week?

 

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